The Sea Dogs won their third straight game on Saturday night at TD Station, defeating a depleted Halifax Mooseheads team 4-2. It was the final night of action in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for two weeks.
Nicolas Guay, playing in what appeared to be his final game as a Sea Dog, scored twice while Jordan Spadafore and William Villeneuve added singles. Zachary Bouthillier made 24 saves in the win.
The Mooseheads were missing several key regulars due to injuries and international play. Despite outshooting Halifax 39-26, the Sea Dogs never really dominated the Moose, allowing them to hang around. Cole McLaren had a strong game in net, making 35 saves.
Patrick Kyte and Landon Miron scored Halifax's goals.
The win evened up Saint John's win-loss record at 17-17-1-0, placing them sixth in the Eastern Conference and 12th overall at the midway point of the season. Given some of the rocky times the team had during the first half, a .500 winning percentage ain't bad at all.
The Sea Dogs website has a full game recap.
LINEUP
SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Nicholas Deakin-Poot (injured), Maxim Cajkovic (injured) and Riley Bezeau (healthy); along with defenseman Olivier DesRoches (healthy).Here's a look at tonight's projected Sea Dogs lineup, brought to you by @CantrburyDental. #AlwaysWearYourMouthguard pic.twitter.com/5UwLgQfPEA— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) December 14, 2019
SHORTHANDED: The Mooseheads are a depleted team right now due to injuries and international events. On Saturday, the Moose were without Jared McIsaac (Team Canada), Benoit-Olivier Groulx (Team Canada), Raphael Lavoie (Team Canada), Senna Peeters (IIHF U20 Division 1 World Championship), Marcel Barinka (World Junior A Challenge), Justin Barron (injured) and Maxim Trepanier (injured). Groulx, Lavoie and McIsaac are all expected to be traded following the world juniors.
BIG FIRST: Thanks to three power plays, the Sea Dogs outshot the Mooseheads 16-4 in the first period. The Moose really only had one quality scoring chance but Zachary Bouthillier slid cross crease to deny Zack Jones.
ODD CALL: A strange moment happened in the second period when Walter Flower was tossed from the game just before a faceoff. There was some confusion on the ice and it was announced a few moments later that Flower was given a game misconduct for "unsportsmanlike conduct." Later on, the league website updated the game misconduct for "racial taunts, gestures and slurs."
MOOSE SUCCESS: The Sea Dogs improved to 4-1-0-0 against the Mooseheads this season with the victory. The two meet again on New Year's Eve in Halifax and then two more times after that. The Mooseheads are very likely going to unload during the trade period, which is good news for the Sea Dogs.
NOTES: Forward Julian Vander Voet returned from a three-game suspension and replaced Riley Bezeau on the fourth line... Santa performed the ceremonial faceoff... the Mooseheads dressed seven defensemen and 11 forwards... Halifax had 11 players officially labelled as rookies in this game... Nicolas Guay ended a two-game pointless streak... Mooseheads forward Landon Miron, called up from major midget for this game, scored his first QMJHL goal... there was a proposal in the crowd during the third period... the attendance of 3,151 was the Sea Dogs' largest home crowd since Nov. 22. The previous four home games had under 3,000 fans in attendance.
HIGHLIGHTS
SUNDAY: The QMJHL's holiday trading period opens for business tomorrow.
NEXT GAME: The QMJHL now breaks for a full two weeks. Saint John's next game will be on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 4 p.m. in Bathurst.
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