With the exception of a small stretch in the second period, the Sea Dogs registered a dominant performance on Saturday night at the Moncton Coliseum, defeating the Wildcats 5-2. Shots on goal ended 52-20 in favour of Saint John.
Bokondji Imama scored twice for Saint John while singles came from Matt Green, Kyle Ward and Matthew Highmore. Callum Booth made 18 saves in the win.
Charles Taillon and Jeremy McKenna scored for the Wildcats, who have now dropped a franchise high 14 straight games. Matthew Waite made 47 saves in the loss.
The Sea Dogs, 30-12-3-1, sit first in the Maritimes Division with 64 points. They sit three points ahead of the Islanders, 29-14-3-0, heading into Sunday's 3 p.m. showdown at Eastlink Centre. A Saint John win would give the Dogs some much need breathing room in the race for the division title.
To the notes...
- Shots were 8-0 Saint John at the first television timeout, which came less than seven minutes in.
- Saint John opened the scoring at 15:06 when Alexandre Bernier threw the puck on net. The puck hit Green in front and went in past Waite, giving the Sea Dogs their first lead.
- The Sea Dogs outshot the Wildcats 20-1 in the first period. It was just the fourth time in the QMJHL this season a team recorded one or fewer shots in a first period.
- 2:01 into the second period, Joe Veleno sent a perfect pass from the goal line to Ward in front. Ward beat Waite with a one-time shot, giving the Sea Dogs a 2-0 lead.
- Imama made it 3-0 on a power play at 8:08, firing a hard wrist shots from the slot past Waite.
- On a Moncton power play at 9:14, Taillon jammed the rebound of a McKenna shot through the legs of Booth, making it 3-1.
- On another power play at 10:58, McKenna walked into the slot and beat Booth with a wrist shots, making it a 3-2 contest.
- Just 22 seconds after McKenna's goal, Julien Gauthier sent a perfect pass to Highmore who beat Waite to give the Sea Dogs a 4-2 lead and some momentum back.
- Imama scored his second of the night at 13:44 of the third on a power play, making it a 5-2 final.
- Imama's first goal was his 30th of the season.
- Imama now has eight multi-goal games this season.
- Mathieu Joseph extended his point streak to a franchise record 24 games.
- Green has two goals and an assist in his past four games.
- Gauthier now has three goals and three assists in six games with the Sea Dogs. He also had a big hit in this game.
- The Wildcats did manage to win 30 faceoffs while the Sea Dogs had 29.
- Kyle Ward and Bailey Webster both returned to the lineup from injuries.
- The Sea Dogs and Wildcats meet just one more time this season - March 15 at the Moncton Coliseum.
LINEUP
Here's tonight's #SJSeaDogs lineup: pic.twitter.com/15aIc9Kt2j— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) January 28, 2017
The Sea Dogs were without Chase Stewart (upper body), John Warren (upper body), Landon Quinney (upper body), Oliver Felixson and Cedric Pare.
Goaltender Alex D'Orio has left the team to prepare for Monday's CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Quebec City. Matt Williams was called up from the Summerside Western Capitals to backup Callum Booth.
TURNING POINT
Matthew Highmore's second period goal was very important, giving the Sea Dogs some much needed momentum after a couple of quick Moncton goals.
SN THREE STARS
1. Bokondji Imama
2. Matthew Waite
3. Samuel Dove-McFalls
2. Matthew Waite
3. Samuel Dove-McFalls
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
When you go deep for some positive news.
NEXT GAMEMika Cyr led the Wildcats with 3 hits in the 1st. #GoCatsGo— Moncton Wildcats (@monctonwildcats) January 28, 2017
The Sea Dogs take on the Islanders in Charlottetown tomorrow at 3 p.m.
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