Sea Dogs head to Quebec this weekend

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Saint John Sea Dogs are an impressive 4-1-0-0 on the road this season – but they're about to face their toughest tests to date.

The Sea Dogs begin a three-in-three Quebec road trip – their first of the season – on Friday night in Sherbrooke. They'll also make stops in Drummondville and Gatineau before returning home for three games at TD Station next week.

The Phoenix were one of the surprise teams out of the gate but were brought back down to earth when they travelled to the Maritimes a few weeks ago, dropping all three games. That road trip included a 3-0 loss in Saint John.

Sherbrooke still has a solid 7-4-0-0 record on the year and the Palais des Sports Léopold-Drolet is always a tough place to play – and this year has been no different. The Phoenix are 6-0-0-0 on home ice.

Drummondville, meanwhile, entered play on Thursday sitting atop the QMJHL standings with a 9-2-0-1 record. They're allowing a league low 2.07 goals against per game thanks to the tremendous play of goaltender Riley Mercer, who has a league best 1.50 goals against average and a .954 save percentage.

The Voltigeurs host the Moncton Wildcats on Friday night in a showdown between two of the league's top teams. That could be good news for Saint John as they may avoid facing Mercer on Saturday.

On Sunday, the Sea Dogs will make the journey to Gatineau and face the last-place Olympiques. Gatineau is just 2-10-0-0 on the year, but Saint John may be feeling gassed at times given that this will be their third game in less than 72 hours.

Saint John is 2-0-0-0 against non-Maritimes Division teams this season, posting home wins over Sherbrooke and Victoriaville.