First round schedule announced

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The schedule for the opening round of the President Cup playoffs has been released.

The Saint John Sea Dogs will begin their series with the Rimouski Oceanic on Thursday night at TD Station. It's the first time in franchise history that the Sea Dogs will play a best-of-five playoff series.

Here's a look at the schedule:

Game 1: Thursday at 7 p.m. in Saint John

Game 2: Friday at 7 p.m. in Saint John

Game 3: Monday at 8:30 p.m. in Rimouski

Game 4: Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. in Rimouski*

Game 5: Thursday at 7 p.m. in Saint John*

*If necessary

The first three rounds of the President Cup playoffs will be best-of-five. The league final will be the usual best-of-seven.

The Sea Dogs, 47-17-1-3 for 98 points, carry a 15-game winning streak into their series against the Oceanic, 33-26-5-4 for 75 points. Rimouski has struggled down the stretch, going 3-7 in their last 10 games.

The two teams split the season series with Saint John winning 6-2 at TD Station on Feb. 6 before falling 6-1 in Rimouski on Feb. 11.

This is the third time the Sea Dogs and Oceanic have met in the playoffs. Saint John swept Rimouski in the 2012 President Cup final and again in the opening round of the 2017 playoffs. The Sea Dogs won the league championship in both of those years.