Game Day 34: at Cape Breton

SYDNEY, NS -  The Saint John Sea Dogs return to action tonight with a different look.

Captain and leading scorer Peter Reynolds was traded to the Halifax Mooseheads just before Christmas. In exchange for Reynolds, the Sea Dogs received overage forward Brody Fournier.

Fournier will likely be used in Saint John's top-six to help fill the void left by Reynolds, who was having a career best season offensively. Saint John will also be without forward Eriks Mateiko, who is playing with Latvia at the world juniors.

Forward Chad Bellemare, who had been a healthy scratch in Saint John's lineup of late, was also traded away.

This new-look Sea Dogs team will face their first test tonight, visiting the Cape Breton Eagles. The first game after Christmas is often an interesting one.

Game time is 7 p.m. at Centre 200.

TV/Radio/Stream: None/None/CHL TV

2023-24 regular season records: The Sea Dogs are 13-15-3-2 for 31 points (fourth Maritimes/seventh Eastern/12th QMJHL) while the Eagles are 17-16-1-0 for 35 points (third Maritimes/sixth Eastern/ninth QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 3-2 overtime win in Halifax on Dec. 16. Peter Reynolds scored a pair of goals for Saint John while Noah Reinhart added a single. Justin Robinson made 26 saves in the win. The Eagles are coming off a 4-3 shootout win in Moncton on Dec. 16. Cam Squires, Luke Patterson and Cam MacDonald all scored for Cape Breton. Nicolas Ruccia made 25 saves in the win. 

2023-24 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 1-2-0-1 against the Eagles this season while Cape Breton is 3-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Dec. 2 in Saint John where the Sea Dogs defeated the Eagles 6-3. Matteo Mann, Reid Calder, Noah Reinhart, Kency Pierre-Noel, Eriks Mateiko and Mathis Gauthier all scored for Saint John. Angelo Fullerton, Cam Squires and Emile Ricard scored for Cape Breton. Patrick Leaver made 33 saves in the win. Nicolas Ruccia allowed five goals on 18 shots while Jakub Milota stopped all five shots he faced.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Eagles: Forwards Cole Burbidge and Cam MacDonald. 

Eagle to watch: Cole Burbidge has seven points (two goals and five assists) in four games against his former club this season.

Random stat: The Eagles are averaging a league low 2.48 goals per game while averaging the fifth fewest goals against per game (2.95).

Notes: With Peter Reynolds gone, Vince Elie is now Saint John's leading scorer with 33 points. Elie also leads the club in assists with 19... Eriks Mateiko leads the club in goals with 15... Cam Squires and Cole Burbidge each have a Cape Breton high 31 points... Squires leads the club in goals with 17... Burbidge has a Cape Breton high 23 assists... Saint John is 7-6-1-1 on the road... Cape Breton is 8-10-0-0 at home... the Eagles are averaging 8.03 penalty minutes per game, the third fewest in the league... Luke Patterson has goals in three straight games... Burbidge has points in eight straight games while Squires has points in seven... Elie has points in eight straight road games.

Out of town:

Moncton at Acadie-Bathurst - 7:00 PM AST 

Charlottetown at Halifax - 7:00 PM AST 

Rouyn-Noranda at Gatineau - 7:00 PM EST 

Sherbrooke at Québec - 7:00 PM EST 

Victoriaville at Rimouski - 7:00 PM EST 

Baie-Comeau at Shawinigan - 7:00 PM EST 

Drummondville at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs are back in action on Saturday when they visit the Moncton Wildcats at 7 p.m.