Recap: Sea Dogs win 4-3 (SO)

FINAL: Halifax 3, Saint John 4 (SO)

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - After a blowout win on Friday, the Saint John Sea Dogs needed a shootout to earn a victory on Saturday.

Alex Drover netted the only goal of the shootout and Jeremie Poirier scored all three of Saint John's goals in regulation time, guiding the Sea Dogs to a 4-3 win over the Halifax Mooseheads at TD Station. Saint John has now won three straight games and have improved to .500 on the year.

Saint John dominated much of the first period despite trailing 2-1. The Mooseheads played better the rest of the way, but the Dogs always seemed to have a slight edge. Even when trailing, it felt like this was Saint John's game to win.

It was the third time this season that the Dogs and Moose met and all three have required extra time. Halifax won the previous two matches - one in overtime and the other in a shootout.

The Sea Dogs have been showing noticeable signs of improvement over the past few games which has been great to see. Saint John will look to carry that momentum onto the road this coming week where they are 0-3-2-1.

Creed Jones made his return to the Sea Dogs net Saturday, making 31 saves in the win. He looked shaky at times in the first half of the game but was strong in the second half - particularly in the final 10 minutes of the third and shootout.

Lucas Robinson, Bobby Orr and Kyle Petten scored for Halifax. Brady James made 41 stops in the loss.

LINEUP

Leonard - MacDonald - Bezeau

Girouard - Reynolds - Roy

Savoie - Lawrence - Burns

Vander Voet - Carruthers - Drover

Drapeau - Inniss

McCallum - DesRoches

Poirier - Villeneuve

Jones

Patenaude

SCRATCHES: Forwards Dawson Stairs and Vladislav Kotkov (not yet arrived) along with defensemen Hunter Gartley (healthy), Benjamin Roode (healthy) and Jan Hampl (not yet arrived). Stairs was listed on Saint John's original lineup in place of Julian Vander Voet. This was Vander Voet's first game since Nov. 4.

BATTLE OF BACKUPS: Creed Jones made his first start since Nov. 6 in Moncton. He looked shaky at times in the first half of the game and allowed two goals on first three shots he faced. He settled in during the second half, making a few key stops late in the third and stopping all three shots in the shootout. Brady James had some adventures in net, but was quite good for the Moose. Also, this first period save.

This save by Brady James is bananas. #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/zTqXfD3e8b

— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) November 14, 2020

FIRST GOAL: The Sea Dogs gave up the game's opening goal yet again. They have scored first in just three of their 14 games.

ORR: Bobby Orr seems to like playing against the team that drafted him. In three games, the rookie now has two goals and an assist against the Dogs.

BIG FIRST: Saint John trailed 2-1 after the opening frame even though it was one of Saint John's best periods of the season. The Sea Dogs dominated much of the frame, especially after having a five-on-three power play. Shots were 21-11 Saint John in the first period, setting a new season high for shots in a period (which was tied the night before (19)).

STREAK: With an assist on Jeremie Poirier's second period goal, Joshua Roy extended his home point streak to eight games.

HAT TRICK: Jeremie Poirier joined Luke Green as the only other Sea Dogs defenseman to ever record a hat trick in team history. Poirier had scored two goals in a single game twice in his career prior to this match. It's also the second straight game that a Sea Dog recorded a hat trick, following Cam MacDonald's on Friday.

DESNOYERS: Halifax's Elliot Desnoyers entered the game red hot, recording five goals and four assists over his past three games. The Sea Dogs were able to hold him off the scoresheet.

PENALTY KILL: Saint John's penalty kill woes have been well documented, but the club had a strong performance on Saturday. Halifax went 0/7 on the man advantage, including 0/3 in the final 10 minutes of the third.

NOTES: Joshua Roy had six shots in the first period and 10 shots in the game... Christopher Inniss was called for kneeing on a big hit placed on Elliot Desnoyers in the third period. The hit was very close to being much bigger... Brady James is going to be one of the most entertaining goaltenders to watch in the QMJHL over the next few years... Saint John wasn't as physical as last night, but were definitely more physical than typical. Hits were 14-11 Saint John... the Sea Dogs are now 2-1 in shootouts... a season high crowd of 1,510 attended the game.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs begin a three-game stretch of road games in Cape Breton on Wednesday at 7 p.m.