Trailing 5-1 early in the third, Saint John scored three times in a span of just under seven minutes but couldn't net an equalizer, falling 5-4 to the Moncton Wildcats in Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League pre-season play at Woodstock's AYR Motor Centre.
The Sea Dogs remain winless this pre-season, falling to 0-3-2-0 with a tie. They'll play their final exhibition game on Saturday against the Charlottetown Islanders.
Zachary Morin scored a pair of goals for Saint John while Alexander Donovan and Vincent Croteau added singles. Justin Robinson had a busy night in net and made 36 saves in the loss.
Niko Tournas, Kuzma Voronin, Rian Chudzinski, Preston Lounsbury and Teddy Mutryn all scored for Moncton. Jacoby Weiner made 23 saves in the win.
The Wildcats led 3-1 after one and it wasn't until the second period when the Sea Dogs were able to get some sustained offensive zone pressure. But penalty troubles hurt Saint John's momentum and the Dogs were ultimately outshot 19-8 in the middle frame.
Moncton got off to a hot start in the third with Lounsbury and Mutryn scoring in the first two minutes. The Sea Dogs were able to catch the 'Cats snoozing a bit late in the third, scoring three times to make a game of it. A too many men call against Saint John with 58 seconds remaining pretty much secured a Moncton win.
LINEUP
Éthier - Murnieks - Morin
Rozzi - Groulx - Beveridge
Fullerton - Joseph - Donovan
Dubé - Yared - Krayer
Beaulieu
Croteau - Chartrand
Zubek - Drabczynski
Lacroix - Dunlap
Robinson
Courchesne
SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without defensemen Everett Baldwin (injured or sick), Olivier Duhamel (injured or sick) and Max Vilén along with forward Alexis Gauthier (healthy).
NOTES: Latvian forward Olivers Murnieks and defenseman Cameron Chartrand both played their first QMJHL pre-season games... returning forward William Yared made his 2025 pre-season debut... with Everett Baldwin and Olivier Duhamel both unable to play, affiliate defenseman Jesse Dunlap and Julien Lacroix dressed for this game. Dunlap recorded an assist... Sea Dogs head coach and general manager Travis Crickard was behind the bench for the first time this pre-season... Justin Robinson was the first Sea Dogs goaltender to play a full game this pre-season... Matthew Krayer had six shots... faceoffs were 35-28 in favour of Saint John. Yared won 12/13... Vincent Croteau took two minor penalties... surprisingly, this was the first QMJHL pre-season game to be played in Woodstock. The crowd was fairly split between Sea Dogs and Wildcats supporters... the attendance wasn't announced but it was a packed house... the 50/50 winner took home $2,085.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to PEI to take on the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be played at UPEI's MacLauchlan Arena.
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