Dogs look to turn things around vs 'Cats

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

MONCTON - The Saint John Sea Dogs will look to turn things around on Thursday night against the Moncton Wildcats.

While it's a mismatch on paper – the Wildcats are 16-6-2-1 overall and sit second in the Eastern Conference – the Sea Dogs, 10-14-1-0, have had recent success at Avenir Centre. Saint John is 1-0 in Moncton this season and are an impressive 10-7-1-1 over the past five seasons.

Saint John will need all the positivity and good vibes they can generate given their recent struggles. The Sea Dogs head into Thursday's game on a four-game losing streak and went a disappointing 3-8-0-0 in November. Eight of their 11 games last month were played at TD Station/Aitken Centre.

The Wildcats, meanwhile, have been heading in the opposite direction. They are 8-1-0-1 in their last 10 games and have collected points in each of their past six games.

The Sea Dogs and Wildcats meet Thursday night in Moncton and Sunday afternoon in Saint John. This will certainly be a challenging couple games for the Dogs but, at the same time, there is an opportunity here to really turn their momentum around.

These are the first two of 10 games the Sea Dogs will play in December. Just four of those 10 games will be played at TD Station.

Some other news and notes...

• The Sea Dogs are now averaging nearly four goals against per game (3.96) and have allowed five or more goals in each of their past four games. 
• Saint John has allowed the first goal in each of their past three games.
• The Wildcats currently sit third overall in the league with 35 points. Only Chicoutimi and Blainville-Boisbriand – who each have 37 points – have better records.
• Wildcats captain Caleb Desnoyers enters play Thursday on a six-game point streak. He posted two goals and three assists during Moncton's three-in-three Quebec road trip last weekend. With Team Canada's world junior selection camp roster expected to be announced next week, Desnoyers is likely a little extra motivated to have a strong few games.
• After lighting up the Sea Dogs last weekend, Cape Breton Eagles forward Romain Litalien was named the QMJHL 's player of the week. Litalien now has four goals and seven assists in six games against Saint John this season.
• Newfoundland's Justin Larose continues to lead the QMJHL in scoring with 43 points (17 goals and 26 assists) in 26 games. His 26 assists leads the league.
• Shawinigan's Felix Lacerte has scored a league high 22 goals in 23 games.
• There will be four outdoor QMJHL games played this week at a racetrack in Trois-Rivieres. Victoriaville, Sherbrooke, Drummondville and Shawinigan will each play two games between Thursday and Sunday.