POSTSCRIPT: Wildcats 3, Sea Dogs 5

A collection of recaps from last night’s 5-3 Saint John Sea Dogs win over the Moncton Wildcats…

Our recap. The win extends Saint John’s streak to a Canadian Hockey League best 15 straight this season.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap. Paywalled.

News 88.9’s recap. Featuring Tim Roszell’s goal calls.

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs captured the Brunswick News Rivalry Cup for the second straight year, clinching the competition with a 5-3 win over the Moncton Wildcats Tuesday.

The Canadian Press’ recap. Montreal Canadiens prospect Nathan Beaulieu wasn't about to let his Saint John Sea Dogs lose to their provincial rivals.

SN Live Blog Replay. Good win, good win.

MISSING IN ACTION: According to News 88.9, Tomas Jurco missed the game because of the flu. Devon Oliver-Dares is still out with a broken collarbone. Jason Seed was a healthy scratch.

RIVALRY CUP: With a crowd of over 5,000 and a regulation win, the Sea Dogs won the Brunswick News Rivalry Cup for a second straight season last night. They won the season long challenge 21.5 – 20.5.

It was the first time the contest was decided on the final meeting of the year. Sea Dogs president Wayne Long accepted the trophy at the team’s bench area following the game.

The last two teams to win the Rivalry Cup went on to win the President’s Cup. Just sayin’…

STREAKING: Saint John extended their winning streak to 15 games on Tuesday night. The Dogs have not lost since January 12 against Shawinigan.

The win also gave the Sea Dogs a perfect 10-0 record in the month of February.

FIRST GOAL: Charlie Coyle opened the scoring on Tuesday night, netting his 12^th of the year at 15:21 of the first.The Sea Dogs improved to 32-2-0-0 when scoring first.

WILL: Roman Will looked a bit more human on Tuesday night. He allowed four goals on 40 shots in the loss but still managed to keep the shorthanded Wildcats within a few goals all night long. He made several big time stops.

Will has faced an incredible 153 combined shots over the past three games for an average of 51.3 per game. The ‘Cats have had a tough few days, facing Saint John twice and Shawinigan once.

The Czech goaltender is now 26-21-3-3 with a 2.66 goals against average and a 0.916 save percentage.

VILLEMAIRE: Maxime Villemaire scored his eighth goal of the season Tuesday, giving him eight markers in 11 games with Saint John. He had eight in 33 games with Drummondville before being traded.

COYLE: Charlie Coyle just keeps on rolling. With his first period goal last night, he has 12 goals and 12 assists in 16 games with Saint John. He has scored in three of his past four games.

Coyle had a solid month of February, recording seven goals and nine assists in 10 games.

BEAULIEU: Nathan Beaulieu had a big game last night, scoring the game-winner, setting up two other goals, and finished a team best +3. Beaulieu now has 10 goals and 37 assists on the year for an average of one point per game.

Beaulieu’s 47 points place him fifth in scoring amongst QMJHL defensemen.

SHORTY: Villemaire’s shorthanded goal gives the Sea Dogs 12 on the year, good for second in the league. Shawinigan has a league high 16.

THE OTHER STREAK: While Saint John has 15 straight, the Wildcats have now lost four consecutive games. They have had a ridiculously tough schedule, playing Shawinigan and Quebec and then Saint John twice. Things don’t get much easier next weekend when the ‘Cats travel to Quebec to face the Victoriaville Tigres and the Remparts.

The ‘Cats are in a battle for playoff seeding. They currently sit 11^th in the league with 60 points. Only six points separate ninth place and 14^th place.

1000: The Sea Dogs surpassed the 1,000 penalty minute mark last night. They now have 1,006 in 61 games this year. They are the fifth team to hit the mark this season.

STANDINGS: Saint John is now three points ahead of the Shawinigan Cataractes in the race for first place. Both teams have seven games remaining including a head-to-head matchup at the Bionest Centre in March.

NOTES: Another solid crowd of 5,433 was at Harbour Station last night… Jonathan Huberdeau had just one shot and it was an empty net goal at 19:20… Danick Emond left the game after taking a hard hit from Danick Gauthier. He left favouring his leg and did not return… Charlie Coyle had a Sea Dogs high seven shots… Jason Cameron and Gauthier each had three hits… Marek Hrivik, Allain Saulnier, and Devon MacAusland each had four shots for the Wildcats… Ryan Penny had four hits… Grant West couldn’t score on a penalty shot in the second period… Nathan Beaulieu, Kevin Gagne, and Aidan Kelly each had two assists.

NEXT GAME: In the second-to-last home game of the regular season, the Sea Dogs host the PEI Rocket on Friday at 7:30pm at Harbour Station.

Photo Credit: Telus