Game Day 18: vs Mooseheads

SAINT JOHN - It's nearly mid-November and the Saint John Sea Dogs and Halifax Mooseheads will meet for the first time this season tonight at TD Station.

It certainly looks like a mismatch on paper: the Mooseheads, winners of five straight, sit third overall in the league standings while the Sea Dogs, 3-6-0-1 in their last 10 games, sit way down in 16th.

A strong showing by the Sea Dogs tonight would certainly be a confidence boost. Saint John has struggled on home ice and is coming off a rough 7-3 loss to the Sherbrooke Phoenix last Sunday.

Game time tonight is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Stream: None/Sea Dogs Radio/CHL TV

2023-24 regular season records: The Sea Dogs are 5-9-1-2 for 13 points (sixth Maritimes/10th Eastern/16th QMJHL) while the Mooseheads are 13-4-1-0 for 27 points (second Maritimes/third Eastern/third QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 7-3 loss to the Sherbrooke Phoenix on Sunday. Matteo Mann, Eriks Mateiko and Egan Beveridge scored for Saint John. Patrick Leaver was pulled after allowing four goals on 11 shots. Justin Robinson allowed three goals on 11 shots in relief. The Mooseheads are coming off a 5-1 win over the Phoenix on Saturday. Jordan Dumais scored a pair of goals for Halifax while singles came from Lou Levesque, Braeden MacPhee and Mathieu Cataford. Mathis Rousseau made 25 saves in the win.

2023-24 head-to-head: This is the first meeting of the season between the Sea Dogs and Mooseheads.

2022-23 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 0-8-0-0 against the Mooseheads last season while Halifax went 8-0-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: March 17 at TD Station where the Mooseheads defeated the Sea Dogs 4-3. Jordan Dumais, Attillio Biasca, Evan Boucher and Alexandre Doucet scored for Halifax. Saint John goals came from Vince Elie, Peter Reynolds and Danny Akkouche. Brady James made 29 saves in the win. Ventsislav Shingarov made 36 saves in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Mooseheads: None.

Moosehead to watch: Jordan Dumais had seven goals and 12 assists in eight games against Saint John last season. 

Random stat: The Mooseheads are averaging a league low 6.28 penalty minutes per game.

Notes: Peter Reynolds leads Saint John in points with 21, goals with 10 and assists with 11... Mathieu Cataford leads Halifax in points with 26 and assists with 18... Markus Vidicek leads the Mooseheads in goals with 10... the Sea Dogs are 2-5-1-1 at home... the Mooseheads are 6-2-1-0 on the road... Cataford sits fifth in the league in scoring... goaltender Mathis Rousseau leads the league in wins with 12... Lou Levesque is third in rookie scoring with 17 points... the Sea Dogs have the worst power play in the league with a rating of 12.3%... the Mooseheads have the second best penalty kill with a rating of 85.4%... Halifax is averaging a league low 2.54 goals against per game... Jordan Dumais has points in eight straight games... Cataford has goals in three straight road games.

Out of town:

Shawinigan at Cape Breton - 7:00 PM AST 

Charlottetown at Moncton - 7:00 PM AST 

Halifax at Saint John - 7:00 PM AST 

Baie-Comeau at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EST 

Québec at Gatineau - 7:00 PM EST 

Rouyn-Noranda at Rimouski - 7:00 PM EST 

Sherbrooke at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EST 

Acadie-Bathurst at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:30 PM EST 

Val-d'Or at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs host the Charlottetown Islanders on Sunday at 3 p.m.