Recap: Sea Dogs win 6-2

FINAL: Saint John 6, Moncton 2

DIEPPE, NB - A three-goal first period pushed the Saint John Sea Dogs past the Moncton Wildcats on Sunday at the Dieppe UNIplex.

William Dufour scored two of Saint John's three goals in the period while Olivier Picard, playing in his first game with his new club, added the other. The Sea Dogs also outshot the Wildcats 16-7 in the first thanks to some power play time.

Peter Reynolds, Riley Bezeau and Josh Lawrence also scored. Jonathan Lemieux rebounded from a tough outing against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan a couple weeks ago, making 26 stops in the win.

Gabriel Bernier and Etienne Morin scored for Moncton. Vincent Filion made 29 saves in the loss.

The six goals were nice, but the bigger story of this game was Saint John's physical play and nastiness. Hits were just 11-8 in favour of the Wildcats, but the Sea Dogs were not afraid to play a more physical game than we've seen in recent seasons. A lot of that was brought by callups who no doubt wanted to impress with their opportunity.

The victory improves Saint John's pre-season record to 5-1.

LINEUP

Picard - Reynolds - Francis

Burns - Lawrence - Dufour

McCluskey - Savoie - Bezeau

Foston - Bowness - Milson

Watt

Despont - Inniss

Drapeau - Grenier

Carruthers - Stone

Lemieux

Patenaude

NEW FACES: There were some new faces and some old faces that were new again on Sunday. Defenseman Natan Grenier and Brady Stone were back after being reassigned and were joined by Logan Carruthers of the Fredericton Red Wings. Up front, the team added Adam Bowness (Campbellton Tigers) and Brendan Milson (Miramichi Timberwolves).

NOTES: Brendan Milson and Francis Langlois were tossed in the first period for a staged fight... Logan Carruthers, the brother of former Sea Dog Leighton Carruthers, wore his brother's old No. 74... Riley Bezeau scored on a shorthanded breakaway just before the buzzer sounded to end the second period... Moncton import Jonas Taibel, who arrived a couple days ago, made his debut... this was the first time the Sea Dogs had played at the UNIplex... the Sea Dogs will finish the pre-season with a 3-0 record against the Wildcats.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Fredericton on Saturday at 7 p.m.