Sea Dogs earn key road victory

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

This year's Saint John Sea Dogs team will not be making history - and that's a good thing.

Saturday's Sea Dogs win in Rimouski was Saint John's fifth road victory of the year. The franchise low for road wins in a season is four, which was accomplished in 2018-19. This year's Sea Dogs team will not be a member of that unfortunate club.

The Sea Dogs are now 5-12-1-1 on the road this season. They have a number of "winnable" road games remaining on their schedule, visiting Bathurst (three times), Cape Breton (two times) and Charlottetown (three times). There's also the chance the Dogs catch some higher ranked teams sleeping, like they did Saturday against the Oceanic.

That 2018-19 team finished the season with a 13-49-2-4 record, setting the franchise low for wins in a single season. This year's Sea Dogs team is now 14-24-1-1 with 28 games remaining.

Saturday's victory also moved the Sea Dogs out of the QMJHL's basement and into the 17th spot, one-point ahead of the Charlottetown Islanders. The Islanders have, however, played two fewer games heading into Sunday's action.

The battle for the final playoff spots could be interesting as there are a cluster of teams sitting near the bottom of the standings. The Sea Dogs traded away their first-round pick in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft, so there is no reason to tank.

A few other random notes...

• The Sea Dogs are back in action on Wednesday, hosting the Shawinigan Cataractes at 7 p.m.
• With 28 regular season games remaining, Brady Burns has 227 points as a Sea Dog. The franchise record is 257, held by Jonathan Huberdeau. Burns is averaging 1.21 points per game this season, so it's possible - but there is little room for error.
• The Sea Dogs ended a four-game road losing streak with Saturday's win.
• Gordie Dwyer's Acadie-Bathurst Titan currently have the fewest road wins in the league this season (3-15-1-1).