The first overall pick in the CHL Import Draft had little trouble handling the Moncton Wildcats on Wednesday night at the Superior Propane Centre, recording a goal and two assists in the Saint John Sea Dogs' 8-1 blowout win.
Cajkovic and Josh Lawrence, who played on a line with Yohan Plamondon, seemed to have good chemistry. Lawrence had two goals - both of which were set up by Cajkovic - and an assist with Plamondon finishing with a goal and an assist.
Nathan Larose, William Villeneuve, Brady Burn and Nicholas Deakin-Poot also scored for Saint John. Tommy DaSilva made 21 saves in his first full game of the pre-season.
The Wildcats dressed very few players with any QMJHL experience, instead icing a lineup of mostly rookies. Saint John, meanwhile, had a mix of veterans and high end young players. The result of this game came as no shock.
Mark Rumsey scored Moncton's lone goal. Philippe Gaudreault allowed four goals on 18 shots while Alex MacDonald allowed four on 16 in the loss.
The Wildcats opened the scoring at 5:29 of the first period when Rumsey went in alone and beat DaSilva upstairs with a nice deke to his backhand.
Saint John wasted little time tying the game. At 7:25, Cajkovic fed Lawrence at the blue line who went in on a short break. Lawrence fired a wrist shot between the pads of Gaudreault and the puck slowly crossed the line, making it a 1-1 game.
The Sea Dogs took a 2-1 lead at 10:19. A shot into traffic was redirected off a skate and in. The goal was credited to Lawrence. Then, just 57 seconds later, Larose scored with a quick shot, giving the Dogs a 3-1 advantage.
Cajkovic scored his first of the pre-season at 16:57. Lawrence sent a pass to the Slovak who was along the side boards. Cajkovic kept the puck and wired a perfectly placed wrist shot past the glove of Gaudreault to make it 4-1 Saint John through 20 minutes.
After a scoreless second period, Saint John scored just 25 seconds into the third. On a power play, Villeneuve finished off a passing play at the side of the net, depositing the puck into an open cage to make it 5-1.
Just 1:06 later, Burns roofed the puck over MacDonald, giving Saint John a 6-1 advantage.
Plamondon scored at 11:29 and then Deakin-Poot connected at 14:41 on a power play to make it an 8-1 final.
LINEUP
NOTES: Saint John improved to 3-0 this pre-season with this win... 16-year-old defenceman Charlie DesRoches made his pre-season debut. He was injured in a scrimmage last week... in both pre-season games he has appeared in, Dawson Stairs has gotten under the skin of some opposing players. He was nearly involved in a fight in the second period... Stairs took a huge hit near the sideboards in the third period but was fine... Kevin Mason and his brother, Jaden Mason, played against one another... Alex D'Orio dressed for the first time this pre-season, backing up DaSilva.CHL Import Draft #1 Overall Pick @max_cajkovic88 makes his @SJSeaDogs debut vs. @monctonwildcats tonight! Check out the full lineup. pic.twitter.com/xYaCx09gQT— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) August 22, 2018
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs and Wildcats meet again on Sunday afternoon at St. Stephen's Garcelon Civic Center.
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