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| Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs |
A four-goal first period led the Sea Dogs to a 7-3 win over the Cape Breton Eagles on Saturday night at TD Station. It was Saint John's third straight victory, a stretch that has seen them outscore opponents 22-5.
SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without goaltenders Noah Patenaude (injury); defenseman Vincent Despont (healthy); and forwards Marshall Lessard (injury) and Nicholas Blagden (game seven of a 10-game suspension). Despont dressed for warmup but was the team's final scratch.
Philippe Daoust led the way with a pair of goals and an assist. Ryan Francis, Riley Bezeau, Josh Lawrence, Olivier Picard and Willam Dufour also scored in the win.
Nikolas Hurtubise, returning from an injury, made 37 saves in the win.
The game was never in doubt after Saint John got off to a great start, scoring four times in the first 15 minutes of the game. The Sea Dogs had some defensive hiccups and lapses that they'll no doubt want to correct, giving up 40 shots to one of the league's worst offenses.
Ivan Ivan scored a pair of goals for Cape Breton while Cam Squires added a solo marker. Nicolas Ruccia allowed seven goals on 41 shots in the loss.
LINEUP
Burns - Lawrence - Dufour
Trenholm - Daoust - Francis
Ansons - MacDonald - Bezeau
Picard - Reynolds - Chantler
Sevigny - Villeneuve
Kuznetsov - Poirier
Drapeau - DesRoches
Hurtubise
Couture
BACK IN ACTION: Nikolas Hurtubise returned from injury, playing in his first game since making a relief appearance on Feb. 24. Despite the lopsided score and the game never being in doubt, Hurtubise made some nice saves throughout game. He'd no doubt like to have a do-over on Cape Breton's third goal, which saw the netminder stop Ivan Ivan on a breakaway and then give the puck right back to the Eagles.
FAMILIAR FACES: Cape Breton's Charles Savoie and Carter McCluskey played against their old club for the first time since being dealt at the trade deadline. The two were honoured before the start of the second period. Saint John's Connor Trenholm, who came the other way in the deal, also faced his former club for first time. This was also, oddly, Ryan Francis' first game against his former team despite joining the Dogs over a year ago.
HOT FIRST: Saint John scored four times in the opening frame, the most they've scored in any first period this season. The team's previous high was three. Bathurst has the league high this season, scoring six in a first period on Nov. 28.
SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS: Three of Saint John's past four games have featured penalty shots - and not a single one resulted in a goal. The Sea Dogs have now been involved in eight penalty shots this season.
Feb. 26 - Felix Lafrance on Thomas Couture - No goal
Feb. 26 - William Dufour on Jan Bednar - No goal
March 2 - Zachary L'Heureux on Thomas Couture - No goal
March 5 - Ivan Ivan on Nikolas Hurtubise - No goal
HISTORY: Jeremie Poirier made some franchise history with his assist on Dufour's goal.
With that assist, Jérémie Poirier PASSES Thomas Chabot and now holds the record for most points by a defenseman in Sea Dogs history with 154! #CityofChampions @NHLFlames pic.twitter.com/45zi3dtOQN
— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) March 6, 2022
Poirier's Sea Dogs franchise record breaking assist on Dufour's goal!🚨#CityofChampions @NHLFlames @NYIslanders pic.twitter.com/sFQwcfX7sc
— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) March 6, 2022
POWER PLAY: Cape Breton's power play entered the game ranked 10th in the league but it had a strong night on Saturday, going 2/4. The Sea Dogs, meanwhile, went 1/4 and gave up a shorthanded goal.
NOTES: Sea Dogs head coach Gordie Dwyer was not on the bench for this game... Riley Bezeau returned to the Saint John lineup after missing Wednesday's game with an injury... this was Saint John's first home game since Feb. 20... Olivier Picard scored his first goal since Dec. 3 and picked up his first point since Dec. 12... Josh Lawrence extended his home point streak to 14 games while William Dufour extended his to 12 games... Philippe Daoust set a new career high for goals in a season in this game, scoring his eighth and ninth goals. His previous high was seven... this was Daoust's third multi-goal game of the season... shoutout to the fan wearing a Charlie Coyle Minnesota Wild jersey at the game... attendance was 2,915.
HIGHLIGHTS
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Halifax Mooseheads Sunday at 3 p.m.
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