RECAP: Sea Dogs Win 3-1

FINAL: Halifax 1, Saint John 3

By Kevin Chambers | SN Staff

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs closed out the first half with a 3-1 victory over the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday night at Harbour Station.

The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads got off to a bit of a slow start with a lot of neutral zone play. The Sea Dogs would eventually get on the board first at the 17:24 mark when Luke Green rushed in and buried his own rebound past Eric Brassard. That’s all the damage that would be done in the opening period despite an 11-5 shot advantage for Saint John.

The Sea Dogs had a great start to the middle stanza as call up Ryan Chiasson scored the second goal of his QMJHL career, putting a shot past Brassard and giving the Sea Dogs a 2-0 lead at the 4:19 mark. The Mooseheads would cut the lead in half when Maxime Fortier buried a second chance on his wraparound attempt, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Saint John peppered Brassard with 23 shots in the second period but the netminder managed to keep the Mooseheads within a single goal heading to the third period.

After Matthew Highmore was called for a slashing penalty just 1:20 into the third period, it was Nathan Noel finishing off a nice two-on-one with Mathieu Joseph, giving the Sea Dogs a shorthanded marker and extending their lead to 3-1. Halifax would pull Brassard late in the final frame but could not beat Marc-Antoine Turcotte, giving the Sea Dogs a 3-1 victory.

NOTES

• Long list of scratches for Saint John in this game: Samuel Dove-McFalls (injured), Spencer Smallman (injured), Julien Tessier (injured), Matt Green (injured), Bailey Webster (injured), Thomas Chabot (WJC), Jakub Zboril (WJC), and Bokondji Imama (suspension).
• The Sea Dogs were forced to play with just five defensemen in this game due to injuries.
• Spencer Smallman and Bailey Webster were both injured in last night’s game against Cape Breton. Matthew Highmore wore the captain’s ‘C’ in Smallman’s absence.
• Halifax’s Cavan Fitzgerald sat this game out as a healthy scratch - expect him to be traded.
• Nathan Noel stayed on the bench for the first period but started the second period.
• Noel’s goal gives him 120 points in his QMJHL career, which is the most points for an active player on the Sea Dogs roster.
• For some reason, the Sea Dogs were several minutes late for warm up.
• Attendance for this game was 3,22.

TURNING POINT

In a game that was largely one sided for the most part, it was the goal by Sea Dogs affiliate player Ryan Chiasson that put the Sea Dogs in front 2-1 and would stand as the game winner.

SN THREE STARS

Luke Green

Matt Murphy

Eric Brassard

TWEET OF THE GAME

Look who we found. @bokojr pic.twitter.com/uYwnWliZCc

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) December 19, 2015

NEXT GAME  
The Sea Dogs now head into the Christmas break and will enjoy some time off before returning to Harbour Station to welcome the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Dec. 28.