POSTSCRIPT: Mooseheads 5, Sea Dogs 1

A collection of recaps from last night’s 5-1 Saint John Sea Dogs loss to the Halifax Mooseheads…

Our recap. The Sea Dogs returned to Harbour Station on Friday to take on the Halifax Mooseheads.

The Telegraph-Journal’s recap (paywall). Friday night was an emotional one for the Saint John Sea Dogs, who bid farewell to 20-year-old defenceman Kevin Gagne after a 5-1 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads.

Metro Halifax’s recap. It will certainly be a happy holidays for the Halifax Mooseheads this year.

The Chronicle Herald’s recap. The Halifax Mooseheads head into the holidays on a high.

The Canadian Press’ recap. The Rimouski Oceanic are heading into the second half of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season in second place, on a six-game winning streak and with some new firepower on the blue-line.

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

SaintJohnSeaDogs.com’s recap. The Saint John Sea Dogs and Halifax Mooseheads mixed it up in Friday night’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action with the Mooseheads coming out on top of a 5-1 decision as 3,681 fans looked on at Harbour Station.

HalifaxMooseheads.ca’s recap. The Halifax Mooseheads entered the Christmas break on a high note Friday night in Saint John with a 5-1 win over the Sea Dogs.

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without Jason Seed (MHL – Summerside), David Weckworth (lower body), Jonathan Huberdeau (world juniors), Devon Oliver-Dares (personal reasons), Michael Mastrangelo (upper body), Jurij Repe (Division 1 world juniors/broken hand), Oliver Cooper (flu), and Justin Dickinson (upper body) on Friday night.

Halifax was without their top forwards in Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin, and Martin Frk who are all away preparing for the World Junior Hockey Championships.

HADE: Defenseman Benjamin Hade made his return to the Sea Dogs lineup, finally recovering from a concussion. He hadn’t played since October 6 where he was a -6 in a loss at Halifax. Hade had four hits and was a -2 in his return.

IZACKY: Jakub Izacky returned to the Saint John lineup last night. He missed Thursday’s game after getting injured in last Sunday’s contest in Charlottetown. He had three shots in his return.

FIRST PERIOD: The opening frame was an entertaining one as each squad had some good scoring chances. It was much more entertaining than most of Thursday night’s game. Shots were 12-9 in favour of the Moose. Sebastien Auger and Zach Fucale were both dialed in.

SECOND PERIOD: Saint John had some great scoring opportunities in the second period. One of their best came following a Jakub Izacky wraparound that created a rebound. The Dogs put the puck across the line but the whistle had blown before crossing. It would be the Moose scoring in the second and led 1-0 after 40 minutes. Shots were 9-7 in favour of the Halifax in the second.

ANDERSON: Stephen Anderson tied the game at 3:13 of the third, roofing a shot over Fucale. Anderson enters the break with four goals and four assists in 32 games.

BOUDREAU: The tie game was short lived as Matthew Boudreau put the Mooseheads up 2-1 less than a minute later. Boudreau scored again at the 11-minute mark to make it 3-1 Halifax. Boudreau now has 26 goals in 34 games. He had 26 in 67 games last year.

THIRD PERIOD: Third period wasn’t a good one. Halifax scored four goals and outshot Saint John 22-7.

AUGER: Sebastien Auger faced 40+ shots once again in the Sea Dogs net. He made 38 stops on Friday night, which included some fantastic stops as usual. He enters the break with a 16-14-0-0 record with a 3.04 GAA and 0.907 SV%.

VS MOOSEHEADS: The Sea Dogs are now 0-4-0-0 against the Mooseheads this season while Halifax is 4-0-0-0 against Saint John. Last night was probably Saint John’s best chance to get a win against the Moose this season. The two meet again on January 4 at the Metro Centre.

STANDINGS: The Sea Dogs enter in the break with a 16-19-0-0 record for 32 points. They sit fourth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 13^th overall in the league. They have lost three straight and are 3-7-0-0 in their last 10 games.

Meanwhile, Halifax enters the holidays with a 29-3-1-1 record and sit first overall in the QMJHL.

NOTES: Santa Claus was in the house… Luca Ciampini had six shots for Halifax… Trey Lewis had three hits… Stephen MacAulay had four shots… only four Sea Dogs didn’t have a shot on goal… Halifax improved to 22-1-0-1 when scoring first… the Sea Dogs are 9-9-0-0 against divisional opponents… Saint John has allowed 53 goals in third periods this year, which ties them for most in the league.

HIGHLIGHTS: Courtesy of SeaDogsTV.

OUT OF TOWN

Moncton 4 at Cape Breton 3 (OT)

P.E.I. 5 at Acadie-Bathurst 3

Rimouski 4 at Quebec 3

Drummondville 5 at Sherbrooke 4 (SO)

Shawinigan 4 at Victoriaville 0

Rouyn-Noranda 5 at Blainville-Boisbriand 4

Baie-Comeau 2 at Chicoutimi 0

Val-d'Or 6 at Gatineau 3

TODAY: The QMJHL’s annual holiday trading period begins today and runs until January 8.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs return to action on December 29 when they take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at Harbour Station.