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Friday, March 22, 2024

Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-2

FINAL: Halifax 2, Saint John 5
Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
SAINT JOHN - It's going to come down to the final day of the regular season to determine who gets the QMJHL's 16th and final playoff spot.

The Saint John Sea Dogs picked up a huge 5-2 victory over the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday night at TD Station, pushing them to 49 points. The Quebec Remparts blew a lead and fell 4-3 in overtime to the Rimouski Oceanic, giving them 48 points.

The Remparts would have to pass the Sea Dogs in points in order to get the final playoff spot. If the two teams end tied in points, Saint John has the tiebreaker and gets in.

The Sea Dogs will face the Mooseheads on home ice on Saturday while the Remparts will host the Oceanic.

It was a bit of a wild game for the Sea Dogs on Friday, who went up against a Mooseheads a team that was without a number of players due to injuries, had two affiliate players to their lineup and started backup goaltender Jack Milner.

Saint John's veteran players came to play in this one — especially in the first period. Tyler Peddle scored twice while Eriks Mateiko, Brody Fournier and Drew Elliott also converted. Coen Miller had two assists. Patrick Leaver made 29 saves in the win.

Milner allowed four goals on 11 shots in the first period. Mathis Rousseau played the final two frames, allowing a goal on 15 shots.

Peddle scored on Saint John's first shot of the game just 36 seconds in and then Mateiko scored on the team's second shot 10 seconds later, quickly making it 2-0. Fournier made it 3-0 at 13:15 and then Peddle netted his second of the period in the final minute to give Saint John a commanding 4-0 advantage.

Liam Kilfoil got the Mooseheads on the board at 3:30 of the second, ripping his ninth of the season up high on Leaver while on a power play. Soon after Rousseau made a huge save on a penalty kill, Markus Vidicek scored at 12:22 on a breakaway to get Halifax within two.

The Mooseheads continued to press at times in the third period but it certainly wasn't an overwhelming push. With 2:57 remaining, a fumble by Rousseau and the Mooseheads defense in front of the crease allowed Elliott to poke home his 17th of the season, giving Saint John a 5-2 advantage.

LINEUP
Mateiko - Elliott - Simek
Peddle - Miller - Fournier
Groulx - Beveridge - Beaulieu
Calder - Laforge - Benoit

Tivey - Ianniello
Bilodeau - Mann
MacLean - Amyot

Leaver
Robinson

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Darien Reynolds (healthy) and Benjamin Beaudry (healthy) along with defensemen Olivier Duhamel (injury) and Jeremie Richard (healthy).

PRE-GAME: Thomas Couture, Charlie DesRoches, Josh Lawrence and Brady Burns were all in the building for a pre-game ceremony honouring Peter Reynolds. This was Reynolds' first game back in Saint John since being traded to the Mooseheads.
NOTES: Saint John scored on their first shot for a second straight game... Eriks Mateiko returned from injury, playing in his first game since March 8... Brody Fournier extended his goal scoring streak to four games. He netted his 25th of the season in the first period... Fournier and Coen Miller each had four shots... Saint John was very physical in this game. Hits were 20-11 in favour of the Sea Dogs... Halifax outshot Saint John 10-4 in the third period... Peter Reynolds was a -2 with four shots in his return to Saint John... attendance was 3,300. There were quite a few Halifax fans in the building... the Mooseheads were without several regulars with what the team listed as injury or sickness.
HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads meet again tomorrow at 4 p.m. at TD Station. Note the start time.
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