Recap: Sea Dogs win 10-2

FINAL: Halifax 2, Saint John 10

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs won their fourth straight game on Sunday at TD Station, hammering the Halifax Mooseheads 10-2.

Josh Lawrence had a goal and four assists in the win while William Dufour netted a hat trick and added a helper. Cam MacDonald also had a pair of goals while singles came from Raivis Ansons, William Villeneuve, Philippe Daoust and Riley Bezeau. Peter Reynolds had four assists.

Thomas Couture, despite the lopsided score, had to make 38 saves in the win.

Like Saturday's 7-3 win over the Cape Breton Eagles, the Sea Dogs got off to a good start and kept their foot on the gas throughout the opening frame, leading 3-1 and outshooting the Mooseheads 17-7. But like Saturday, the Sea Dogs could have been sharper on the defensive side of things throughout the game, surrendering 40 shots. They'll want to cut down those shot totals when they face the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and Charlottetown Islanders this week.

Saint John has outscored opponents 32-7 during this four-game winning streak. They now sit second in the Maritimes Division with 54 points but have played three less games than both Charlottetown (63 points) and Bathurst (52).

Senna Peeters scored both Halifax goals. Mathis Rousseau allowed five goals on 19 shots before being pulled in the second period. Brady James allowed five goals on 20 shots in relief.

LINEUP

Burns - Lawrence - Dufour

Trenholm - Daoust - Francis

Ansons - MacDonald - Bezeau

Picard - Reynolds - Chantler

Kuznetsov - Poirier

Drapeau - Villeneuve

DesRoches - Despont

Couture

Hurtubise

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without goaltender Noah Patenaude (injury); defenseman Vincent Sevigny (injury); and forwards Marshall Lessard (injury) and Nicholas Blagden (game eight of a 10-game suspension).

FIRST GOAL: The Sea Dogs have been scoring a lot over the past four games. They've also been opening the scoring quite early during that stretch.

Feb. 27 at Moncton: 8:44 of 1st period

March 2 at Halifax: 3:47 of 1st period

March 5 vs Cape Breton: 3:16 of 1st period

March 6 vs Halifax: 1:10 of 1st period

VILLENEUVE: After not scoring since November, William Villeneuve now has three goals over his past three games. His latest was this bomb on a power play in the first period.

Villeneuve's CANNON of a shot makes it 2-0 on the power play! #CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/ES2BJBNip9

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) March 6, 2022

WEIRD GOAL: This was Halifax's first shot on goal. Shots were 11-1 in favour of Saint John at the time.

Follow the flying puck

🚨Peeters (4) 7:27 1st period
🍎Whynot | #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/FTbM1zz0e5

— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) March 6, 2022

DUFOUR: William Dufour scored his league-leading 38th, 39th and 40th goals of the season in this game, extending his goal streak to five games. Dufour has scored 10 goals during this five-game stretch. His first period goal was his first shorthanded marker of the season.

SHORTIES: The Sea Dogs scored three shorthanded goals in this game, tying a team record set way back on Jan. 25, 2006. To give you a sense of how long ago that was, Claude Giroux was named the game's first star. Saint John has now scored 10 shorthanded goals this season, tying them with Charlottetown for the league lead.

BIG NIGHT: Josh Lawrence set a new career high for points in a game with five and assists in a game with four. The team record for points in a single game is six, so Lawrence came oh so close to tying that. Lawrence has four goals and seven assists in his past four games.

HELLO AGAIN: This was the fourth meeting between the Sea Dogs and Mooseheads since Feb. 18. They'll meet two more times in the regular season.

NOTES: Sea Dogs head coach Gordie Dwyer was not on the bench for a second straight game... Vincent Despont drew back into the lineup with Vincent Sevigny out with an injury. The forward lines remained the same... the Mooseheads were without forwards Attilio Biasca and Bobby Orr due to injuries. Both played in Halifax's Friday night loss to the Moncton Wildcats... on the 93 CFBC pre-game show, broadcaster John Moore said Marshall Lessard could return to the lineup in the next seven to 10 days... Philippe Daoust now has three goals and three assists in his past two games... Peter Reynolds had a career high four assists... the Sea Dogs went 3/4 on the power play. The team's special teams were clicking in this one... attendance was 2,661. 

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Wednesday at 7 p.m.