RECAP: Sea Dogs win 5-1

FINAL: Saint John 5, Rimouski 1

Kevin Chambers | SN Staff

RIMOUSKI, Que. – The Saint John Sea Dogs kicked off their four game Quebec road trip in style on Thursday, posting an impressive 5-1 victory over the Rimouski Oceanic.

Goal scorers for the Sea Dogs were Bokondji Imama (two), Mathieu Joseph, Thomas Chabot and Oliver Felixson. Alex D’Orio had another solid performance, stopping 28 shots.

Scoring the lone goal for the Oceanic was Hunter Moreau while netminder Alexandre Lagace was able to stop 24 shots in the contest.

To the notes…

• Joseph picked up the game’s first tally at 9:38 of the opening period, pulling off a deke to get by an Oceanic defender and going high on Lagace.
• The first period also saw a tilt between former Sea Dog Nico Blachman and Chase Stewart. Stewart landed a couple solid shots while Blachman shot a nice little smile to the Sea Dogs bench. 
• Chabot extended the Sea Dogs lead to 2-0 at 10:18 of the second period after making a nice move to his backhand and beating Lagace. 
• The Sea Dogs wouldn’t wait long to strike again as Imama got in on the act at 11:38 of the middle frame. 
• Then it was time for Felixson to pick up his first goal of the season at 14:48, letting a seeing eye wrist shot go that found it’s way into the back of the net and making it 4-0 Sea Dogs.
• Imama picked up his second of the game at 1:06 of the third period when he banged home his own rebound, making it 5-0 for the Dogs. 
• Moreau ended the shutout bid of D’Orio at 9:54 of the final frame when he finished off a partial breakaway with a backhand shot.
• Joseph beat his personal best point streak, which now sits at 13 straight games. The Sea Dogs' team record is 22 games which is held by Zack Phillips (2011).
• Joseph also climbed into the top 10 in all time scoring with 163 points. He is now tied for 10th with Steven Anthony.
• Imama tied a personal best with his 13th goal of the season.
• Earlier on Tuesday, Sea Dogs equipment manager David “DK” Kelly rang the bell, completing his 20 rounds of chemotherapy. 
• Joe Veleno is getting very close to returning to action. He took the warm up in this game but still may not play on this trip.

LINEUP
Dove-McFalls - Highmore - Joseph
Imama - Noel - Smallman
Ward – Pare - Leblanc
Mathieu - Quinney - Reginato

Felixson - Stewart
Bernier - Green
Chabot - Martineau

D’Orio
Bishop

SCRATCHES
Jakub Zboril (suspension), Joe Veleno (lower body), John Warren (upper body), Bailey Webster (upper body), Matt Green (upper body) and Bryson Michel (healthy).

TURNING POINT
Two quick goals by Thomas Chabot and Bokondji Imama just 1:20 apart extended the Sea Dogs' lead to 3-0 midway through the second. There was no looking back.

SN PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Alex D’Orio
Thomas Chabot
Mathieu Joseph

TWEET OF THE GAME  
A great moment away from the rink today:

20/20 done ✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔✔🔔 #RingTheFrigginBell #HakunaMatata #FCancer #TeamDK Thank you guys so much!!!!! pic.twitter.com/ZNMZkIdAF2

— DK (@SeaDogsDK) November 29, 2016

NEXT GAME 
The Sea Dogs continue their road trip through Quebec with a stop in Shawinigan to face the Cataractes on Thursday. Game time is 8 p.m.