Game Day 5: at Cape Breton

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SYDNEY, NS - The Saint John Sea Dogs will look to get some revenge on the Cape Breton Eagles tonight.

The Sea Dogs blew a 3-0 lead in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Eagles on Saturday at TD Station. It looked as the Sea Dogs, who had a strong start, faded as the game went along. We'll see how they fare tonight with fresh legs.

This will be Saint John's third road game of the season. They split a pair of games in Newfoundland during opening weekend.

Both the Sea Dogs and Eagles remain in the CHL Top-10, making this one of the league's biggest matchups of the week. Hopefully it can live up to the hype.

Game time tonight is 7 p.m. at Centre 200.

Stream/TV/Radio: FloHockey/None/Sea Dogs Audio Network

2026-27 regular season records: The Sea Dogs are 1-1-1-1 for four points (seventh Eastern/13th QMJHL) while the Eagles are 1-1-0-2 for four points (eighth Eastern/14th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs and Eagles met last Saturday at TD Station where Cape Breton posted a 5-4 overtime win. Reece Peitzsche, Liam Lefebvre, Eliot Litalien, Elias Schneider and Jacob Hartlin scored for Cape Breton. Alexander Donovan, Oliver Ozogany, Thomas Charbonneau and Olivier Groulx scored for Saint John. Lucas Beckman made 21 stops in the victory. Rafaël Courchesne made 22 saves in the loss.

College hockey season set to start

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Two players from last season's Saint John Sea Dogs team could make their first college hockey appearances as early as this weekend.

Olivers Murnieks and the Boston College Eagles are travelling to Michigan State for an intriguing exhibition contest on Friday followed by a matchup against the USNTDP on Saturday. 

Everett Baldwin and the Providence College Friars, meanwhile, are set to host Stonehill College on Friday, which is also an exhibition contest.

Both Boston College and Providence begin regular season non-conference play next weekend. The Eagles will host Alaska while the Friars host St. Lawrence and Clarkson.

It will be interesting to see how much Murnieks and Baldwin play as freshmen – especially Baldwin given that he is a 19-year-old defenseman on a good team.

"I’m really excited to see what Lightning prospect Everett Baldwin can do on defense," wrote Tyler Kuehl of Daily Faceoff. "He established himself as a two-way threat with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs.

It looks like there will be eight former Sea Dogs playing NCAA hockey this season. Murnieks and Baldwin will be the only freshmen while the other six played college hockey last season – the first where CHL players were eligible to play.

NHL season begins for former Sea Dogs

Embed from Getty Images

Three former Saint John Sea Dogs debuted with their new NHL clubs on Tuesday.

Bokondji Imama made his Florida Panthers debut in the team's 1-0 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes; Mathieu Joseph made his first appearance with the Edmonton Oilers in their 6-5 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks; and Joe Veleno played with the New York Rangers in their 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins.

Imama played just 6:03 for the Panthers but his ice time was highlighted by this fight against Nicolas Deslauriers.

Nic Deslauriers vs. Boko Imama.

A heavyweight battle on opening night. 🥊 pic.twitter.com/liZTfE31AU

— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) September 29, 2026

Joseph, meanwhile, had five hits and a -1 rating in 14:57 of ice time under Mike Babcock.

Veleno had three hits in 15:57 of ice time in his Rangers debut.

Sea Dogs slip to 9th in CHL Top 10

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs have slid to ninth in the latest CHL Top-10 rankings.

The Sea Dogs were ranked seventh in the pre-season and week one rankings. The slip comes after a pair of losses on the weekend: a 4-3 shootout loss to the Moncton Wildcats and a 5-4 overtime loss to the Cape Breton Eagles – both of whom were and are also ranked.

The Eagles were ranked fifth this week while the Wildcats were seventh. The Quebec Remparts were the highest ranked QMJHL team at No. 4.

Here's what the CHL website said about the Sea Dogs this week:

9. Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL): Saint John earned two points against ranked opponents this past weekend, falling to Moncton in a shootout on Friday and Cape Breton in overtime on Saturday afternoon. The Sea Dogs have collected points in three of their first four games, but have one win. Alexis Joseph scored with 1:15 left in regulation on Friday night to force overtime and help the Sea Dogs secure a point. Captain Olivier Groulx (1G-2A) and Matyas Cancik (3A) each had three-point weekends, while Dylan Rozzi (1G-2A) has four goals and six points through four games. Alexander Donovan (1G-1A), Oliver Ozogany (1G-1A), Olivier Lemieux (1G-1A) and Zachary Morin (2A) each recorded two points over the weekend, while defenceman Thomas Charbonneau scored his second goal of the season, matching his total from 48 games with Québec last season. The Sea Dogs visit Cape Breton for a rematch on Friday before hosting Halifax on Sunday.

The Sea Dogs have a rematch with the Eagles on Friday night in Sydney. On Sunday, the team returns to TD Station where they'll host the Halifax Mooseheads at 3 p.m.

Notebook: Council sports Sea Dogs jerseys

City of Saint John

There were plenty of Saint John Sea Dogs jerseys on display at last week's City Council meeting.

Council members sported Sea Dogs jerseys ahead of the team's home opening weekend. Mayor Donna Reardon wore Olivier Groulx's captain jersey.

The jerseys are discussed at the 14-minute mark of the video below.

RARE SHOOTOUT LOSS

After going the entire 2025-26 season without playing in a shootout, the Sea Dogs took part in one just three games into the 2026-27 campaign.

The Sea Dogs went 0/3 in the breakaway contest and fell 4-3 to the Moncton Wildcats on Friday at TD Station. It was the first career QMJHL shootout attempts for Alexis Joseph and Jamie Glance while Groulx was making just his second appearance.

The Sea Dogs went to extra time nine times last season but all were decided in overtime. Saint John was 4-5 in those games.

Saint John took part in three shootouts during the 2024-25 season, winning all three. The last shootout they played in took place on Dec. 14, 2024 against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

The Sea Dogs' last shootout loss came on March 20, 2024, fittingly against the Wildcats at TD Station.

Late goals have been costly for Sea Dogs

Jeff Parsons/Newfoundland Regiment

SAINT JOHN - Just four games into the regular season, there is certainly one trend the Saint John Sea Dogs will no doubt want to correct.

Third period goals against have proved costly for the Sea Dogs so far. In all three of their losses, the team allowed goals in the final half of the third period, goals that proved to be pivotal in the game's outcome.

Sept. 19 - 4-2 loss at Newfoundland: allowed game-tying goal at 11:50 of the third period and the game-winning goal at 16:12. Regiment added an empty netter at 19:31.

Sept. 25 - 4-3 SOL vs Moncton: allowed Moncton to take a 3-2 lead at 13:29 of the third period on a power play. Saint John tied the game with 1:15 to go before falling in a shootout.

Sept. 26 - 5-4 OTL vs Cape Breton: allowed game-tying goal at 13:20 of the third period on a power play. Eagles went on to win the game in overtime.

The Sea Dogs have been outscored 7-3 in third periods this season. They've outscored opponents 6-3 in first periods and 4-3 in seconds, respectively.

All three of Saint John's losses have been close games. The team is 1-1-1-1 after four games, which is certainly not bad – but this weekend's losses sting given how they played out.