Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-2

FINAL: Saint John 5, Halifax 2

Trevor MacMillan/Halifax Mooseheads

HALIFAX - A big night from Alexis Joseph pushed the Saint John Sea Dogs past the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday at Scotiabank Centre.

Joseph scored shorthanded, at even strength and into an empty net in a 5-2 Sea Dogs win. The shorthanded goal, which came at 6:04 of the opening frame, was the first QMJHL goal (and point) for the first overall pick in this year's Entry Draft.

Dylan Rozzi and William Yared added sold markers for Saint John. Rafaël Courchesne, in his first QMJHL start, made 28 saves in the win.

The victory came a night after the Sea Dogs fell 4-3 to the Mooseheads, a closely fought game that was decided on a third period goal by Halifax. Saturday's contest was another close battle and a series split seems fitting. 

Oleg Kulebyakin and Shawn Carrier scored for Halifax. Nicolas Gillham-Cirka made 22 saves in the loss.

The Mooseheads opened the scoring just 3:20 into the game when Kulebyakin converted on a power play. Quinn Kennedy fired a cross ice pass that found the Halifax import who beat Courchesne with a one-timer.

Saint John went to the penalty kill again at 4:24 when the Sea Dogs were called for too many men. While shorthanded, Joseph kept the puck on a two-on-one with Zachary Morin and beat Gillham-Cirka with a hard wrist shot to make it 1-1.

Saint John's penalty troubles continued in the second when Alexander Donovan headed off for a trip. Just 12 seconds into the man advantage, Carrier scored to put Halifax back in front, 2-1.

The Sea Dogs tied things up again at 11:41 when Joseph cut through the crease and slid the puck past Gillham-Cirka. Less than a minute later at 12:35, Rozzi connected to put the Sea Dogs in front for the first time.

After some rough stuff 3:43 into the third, Saint John was awarded a power play. With six seconds remaining on the man advantage, an Olivier Duhamel shot got through the pads of Gillham-Cirka and Yared poked the puck across the line to make it 4-2 Saint John.

The Mooseheads pulled Gillham-Cirka with a couple minutes remaining. Halifax was pressuring but couldn't get many chances before Joseph iced the game with an empty netter with 0.7 seconds remaining, completing his hat trick.

LINEUP

Éthier - Murnieks - Morin

Groulx - Joseph - Donovan

Fullerton - Yared - Rozzi

Beaulieu - Krayer - Beveridge

Wasmer - Chartrand

Zubek - Duhamel

Croteau - Baldwin

Courchesne

Robinson

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Alexis Gauthier (healthy) and Elliot Dubé (healthy) along with defensemen Oskar Drabczynski (healthy) and Max Vilen (healthy).

NOTES: The Sea Dogs made a few lineup changes, most notably inserting Jacob Beaulieu for the first time this season... Vincent Croteau drew back in on the backend, replacing Oskar Drabczynski... Rafaël Courchesne made his first career QMJHL start and just his second appearance. He made a few big stops... Angelo Fullerton recorded his first point as a Sea Dog, posting an assist on Dylan Rozzi's second period goal... along with the three goals, Alexis Joseph was a +3 with five shots and 12/15 on faceoffs... faceoffs were 37-22 in favour of Saint John... William Yared had a goal and two assists... the Sea Dogs and Mooseheads don't meet again until a home-and-home series Dec. 17-18, the final games before the Christmas break... it was Country Night at Scotiabank Centre. Attendance was 6,923.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs travel to Moncton next Saturday to face the Wildcats at 7 p.m.