RECAP: Happy Birthday. Dogs Win 8-1.

FINAL: PEI 1, Saint John 8

SAINT JOHN – Multiply Jonathan Huberdeau’s four goals by Charlie Coyle’s four assists and you get 16 straight wins for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs won their 16^th consecutive game on Friday night at Harbour Station, beating the Prince Edward Island Rocket 8-1 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Saint John’s winning streak is the longest in the Canadian Hockey League this year.

Huberdeau became the first Sea Dog to ever record four goals in a regular season game in the win. He scored three straight goals to open the scoring and then closed it out with a goal late in the third. He now has 27 goals and 63 points in just 31 games this year.

Coyle, who signed a three-year deal with the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, turned 20 on Friday, and had several friends and family members in the crowd, recorded four assists. Danick Gauthier, who just signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning, added three assists.

Saint John also had two goals from Stephen MacAulay and solo markers from Zack Phillips and Stanislav Galiev. Sebastien Auger faced just 15 shots, making 14 saves.

Louick Marcotte had the lone PEI goal. Maxime Lagace allowed eight goals on 41 shots in the loss.

The Rocket are heading in the opposite direction of the Sea Dogs. PEI has now last nine straight games and sit last in the league, seven points out of a playoff spot with seven games to play.

Saint John improved to 46-14-0-2 with the win. With Shawinigan’s loss tonight, they move five points ahead of the Cataractes for first place. Both teams have six games remaining.

FIRST PERIOD

The first period had a god pace but was fairly uneventful. Maxime Lagaced made a couple of good stops in the first half of the period.

Lagace made a great save on Stanislav Galiev midway through the frame. Tomas Jurco fed the puck ahead and Galiev who went in alone but had his backhander denied.

Saint John took a 1-0 lead at 13:40. The puck came ahead to Jonathan Huberdeau who had one defenseman to beat. He used the defender as a screen, beating a surprised Lagace to open the scoring,

The Rocket had a couple of good chances later on. Ben Duffy was in alone but was stopped by the pad of Auger. Then, Victor Provencher fired a backhander just wide.

Late in the period, Stephen MacAulay went in alone but was stopped by Lagace’s pad.

Shots were 12-6 Saint John in the opening 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD

At 1:20, Charles Roussel blasted a point shot that was tipped by Huberdeau to give the Sea Dogs a 2-0 advantage.

Not long after, Huberdeau was at the side of the goal and made a nifty move only to have Lagace push himself against the post and keep it out.

Huberdeau made it a 3-0 game at 5:25. It looked as though he was trying the centre the puck through the crease but it snuck in past Lagace to extend Saint John’s lead. Off the centre ice faceoff at 5:26, Oliver Cooper and Yan Pavel Laplante dropped the gloves. Laplante fell, allowing Cooper to get a few good shots in.

Maxime Villemaire had a great chance soon after the scrap, accepting a pass from Stanislav Galiev only to be robbed by Lagace.

PEI headed to the power play at 7:50 as Stephen MacAulay headed off. While shorthanded, Danick Gauthier made a great pass to Ryan Tesink only to be stopped by Lagace’s leg.

Back at even strength, Tesink had another great opportunity as he tipped the puck off the crossbar.

At 13:11, MacAulay and Jimmy Oligny dropped the gloves for a short fight. The Sea Dogs went to the power play on the same play because Oligny checked Tesink from behind. The Dogs had some good pressure on the man advantage but could not convert.

With just 1.5 seconds remaining in the period, Tesink passed the puck over the Galiev who blasted a shot top corner to give the Dogs a 4-0 lead after two.

Shots in the middle frame were 17-3 in favour of Saint John.

THIRD PERIOD

The teams exchanged power plays early in the third but not much happened.

At 5:46, Matthew Bursey headed to the box for four minutes after receiving interference and unsportsmanlike penalties. While shorthanded, Louick Marcotte beat Sebastien Auger five-hole at 6:36 to get PEI on the board. The Dogs didn’t have a whole lot of chances on the man advantage.

The Rocket went to the power play at 10:30. It would be the Sea Dogs scoring shorthanded this time as Gauthier fed MacAulay to make it a 5-1 game.

The Rocket got another power play 12:15 as Tesink headed off but couldn’t get much going.

The Sea Dogs made it 6-1 at 14:46. Jurco sent the puck across the ice to Zack Phillips who was standing in his office near the bottom of the circle. Phillips beat Lagace to keep the Dogs rolling.

Saint John went back to the power play at 16:07 as Bursey headed off again. On the man advantage, a pass found MacAulay who was wide open in front to give Saint John a 7-1 lead at 17:30.

Huberdeau completed Saint John’s scoring at 18:49. Coyle made some big time moves and made a great pass to Huberdeau, giving him plenty of time to pot his fourth of the game.

Shots in the third were 12-6 Saint John.

The Sea Dogs went 1-for-5  on the power play while the Rocket went 0-for-4.

MISSING IN ACTION: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Devon Oliver-Dares and Aidan Kelly along with defenseman Spencer MacDonald.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan tomorrow night at 7pm at Harbour Station in the final home game of the regular season. It is Fan Appreciation Day.