Recap: Sea Dogs win 4-3 (SO)

FINAL: Charlottetown 3, Saint John 4 (SO)

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs kicked off the second half the same way they ended the first: on a winning note.

The Sea Dogs earned their third straight victory with a 4-3 shootout win over the Charlottetown Islanders on Wednesday at TD Station. The Islanders, meanwhile, have now dropped five straight games.

Noah Reinhart, Vince Elie and Peter Reynolds scored in regulation time for Saint John. Eriks Mateiko scored the only goal of the shootout, converting in the fourth round. Ventsislav Shingarov had another strong showing in net, making 35 saves in the victory (along with four stops in the shootout).

Saint John's power play, which has struggled this season, had a good night, going 2/7.

The Sea Dogs led 3-1 late in the third but the Islanders scored two goals in the final 2:22 to send the match into extra time.

Former Sea Dogs forward Simon Hughes along with Jeremie Biakabutuka and Michael Horth scored for Charlottetown. Tye Austin, making his Islanders debut, made 29 saves in the loss.

LINEUP

Reynolds - Trenholm - Elie

Simek - Burbidge - Mateiko

Laforge - Cournoyer - Reinhart

Thifault - Beaulieu - Szczerba

Tivey - Cosman

Bilodeau - Akkouche

Tracey - Welsh

Shingarov

Brideau

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without goaltender Nikolas Hurtubise (healthy); defensemen Jeremie Richard (injury), Charlie DesRoches (injury) and Vincent Despont (world juniors); and forwards Brady Burns (second game of a five-game suspension) and Cam MacDonald (healthy).

NOTABLE SCRATCHES: 'Tis the season of trades in the QMJHL and there were a couple notable healthy scratches from Saint John's lineup. 20-year-old goaltender Nikolas Hurtubise, who battled injuries in the first half, was listed as a healthy scratch for this game. 19-year-old forward (or defenseman?) Cam MacDonald was originally listed in Saint John's lineup but did not take warmup and was later declared a healthy scratch.

HE'S BACK: Peter Reynolds returned to the Saint John lineup on Wednesday, playing in his first game since Dec. 3 due to injury. Reynolds scored on a power play early in the third to give Saint John some insurance at the time.

He's BACK!

After missing the last 7 games due to injury, Peter Reynolds has made it a 3-1 game! #CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/Ec2N2r1dfL

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) December 29, 2022

FIRST SHOT: Saint John's first shot on goal was a goal. Noah Reinhart, on a partial breakaway, beat Tye Austin with a deke to his backhand at 5:28 of the first period. That was also the first shot Austin faced as a member of the Islanders. The netminder was recently acquired in a trade from the Gatineau Olympiques.

Noah Reinhart hits the🎯#CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/TNiz2mAxrH

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) December 28, 2022

FIGHT: Sam-Luca Thifault dropped the gloves with Lane Hinkley in the second period. This was just the second fight of the season for the Sea Dogs. Hinkley was playing in his first game as an Islander after being acquired in a deal from the Drummondville Voltigeurs.

NOTES: Former Sea Dogs forward Simon Hughes made his Charlottetown debut, playing on the team's second line... three players were missing from this game due to the world juniors: Saint John's Vincent Despont (Switzerland) and Charlottetown's Peter Repcik (Slovakia) and Jakub Brabenec (Czechia)... former Cape Breton Eagles head coach Jake Grimes was in the building. His son, Dixon, signed with the Islanders and was Tye Austin's backup in this game... Nicolas Bilodeau and Cole Burbidge each had two assists... Burbidge had six shots... Saint John won 46/76 faceoffs... Saint John is now 1-1 in shootouts... attendance was 2,011.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Bathurst on Friday to take on the Titan at 7 p.m.