Pre-Season Games 5 & 6: at Cape Breton

SYDNEY, NS - The pre-season is beginning to wind down for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Sea Dogs will play two of their final three exhibition contests this weekend, visiting the Cape Breton Eagles. The two teams meet tonight at 7 p.m. and again tomorrow at 1 p.m. in front of a socially distant crowd at Centre 200.

Saint John is 2-2 so far in pre-season play while Cape Breton is 1-2-0-1. Tonight will be the first meeting between the two this year.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/None/Eagles YouTube Channel

2020 pre-season records: The Sea Dogs are 2-2-0-0 this pre-season while the Eagles are 1-2-0-1.

2019-20 records: The Sea Dogs finished the shortened season with a 30-33-1-0 record for 61 points (fourth Maritimes, sixth Eastern, 11th QMJHL) while the Eagles were 40-20-2-1 for 83 points (second Maritimes, fourth Eastern, fifth QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-3 win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Sunday at TD Station. Charlie DesRoches and Brady Burns both scored twice for Saint John while singles came from Josh Lawrence and Liam Leonard. Noah Patenaude made 13 saves and Daniel Moody 20 in the win. The Eagles are coming off a 7-4 win in Moncton on Sunday. Shawn Element had a hat trick; Davis Cooper scored two goals; and Connor Trenholm and Felix Lafrance also scored. William Grimard made 42 saves in the win.

2019-20 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 2-5-0-0 against the Eagles last season while Cape Breton went 5-1-0-1.

Last meeting: Feb. 29 in Saint John where the Sea Dogs defeated the Eagles 5-4. Joona Lehmus, Ben Badalamenti, Joshua Roy, Anderson MacDonald and Jeffrey Durocher all scored for Saint John. Shawn Boudrias scored two goals for Cape Breton while Egor Sokolov and Mathias Laferriere added singles. Zachary Bouthillier made 51 stops in the win. William Grimard made 33 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Eagles: Defenseman Nathan Larose.

Eagle to watch (if he plays): Shawn Element made his pre-season debut on Sunday in Moncton and scored a hat trick. He recorded four goals and three assists in nine games (split between Cape Breton and Bathurst) against Saint John last season.

Random stat: The Eagles were 4-0-0-1 against the Sea Dogs at Centre 200 last season.

Notes: Charlie DesRoches and Alex Drover are tied for the Sea Dogs lead in pre-season scoring with six points each... DesRoches has a team high four goals... Drover leads the team in assists with five... Shawn Element leads Cape Breton in goals with three... Francois-James Buteau leads the club in assists with three... the Sea Dogs have the third best power play this pre-season (30.8%) but the third worst penalty kill (66.7%)... Saint John is averaging a league high 44.5 shots per game.

Out of town:

Rouyn-Noranda at Val-d'Or - 7:00 PM EDT 

Québec at Shawinigan - 7:30 PM EDT

Next game: Following Saturday's 1 p.m. game in Sydney, the Sea Dogs play their final pre-season contest of 2020 next Friday at TD Station against the Moncton Wildcats.