Game Day 56: at Halifax

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

HALIFAX - Tonight's game in Halifax got a whole lot more interesting yesterday.

With coaches Travis Crickard and Mark Lee no longer with the Saint John Sea Dogs, the Brian Casey era officially begins tonight at Scotiabank Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.

Obviously, Casey will have had limited time to prepare the Sea Dogs for this game – but you never know what's going to happen in the first game after a coaching change. Teams often look reinvigorated in the first game.

The Sea Dogs are coming off a Quebec road trip that saw them drop the first two games before picking up a key regulation time win in Gatineau on Sunday.

The Mooseheads, meanwhile, have had some struggles in the second half but still sit nine points ahead of the Sea Dogs.

Stream/TV/Radio: FloHockey/None/None

Records: The Sea Dogs are 20-30-5-0 for 45 points (eighth Eastern/15th QMJHL) while the Mooseheads are 24-25-3-3 for 54 points (seventh Eastern/13th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 2-1 win in Gatineau on Sunday. Angelo Fullerton and Alexander Donovan scored for Saint John. Arseni Radkov made 29 saves in the win. The Mooseheads are coming off a 7-1 win in Rimouski on Sunday. Jasu Mensonen scored a pair of goals for Halifax while singles came from Shawn Carrier, Connor MacPherson, Quinn Kennedy, Daniel Walters and Oleg Kulebiakin. Owen Bresson made 23 saves in the win.

2025-26 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 2-2-1-0 against the Mooseheads this season while Halifax is 3-2-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Jan. 4 in Saint John where the Sea Dogs defeated the Mooseheads 5-2. Oskar Drabczynski, Angelo Fullerton, Everett Baldwin, Olivier Duhamel and Dylan Rozzi all scored for Saint John. Liam Kilfoil and William Bent scored for Halifax. Rafaël Courchesne made 31 stops in the win. Nicolas Gillham-Cirka made 18 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Mooseheads: None.

Moosehead to watch: Oleg Kulebiakin is fourth in QMJHL rookie scoring with 60 points and third in goals with 26.

Random stat: The Sea Dogs have scored a league high 14 shorthanded goals while the Mooseheads are tied for the most shorthanded goals allowed with 13.

Notes: Olivier Groulx leads Saint John in points with 56 and assists with 37... Alexis Joseph has a team high 22 goals... Oleg Kulebiakin leads Halifax in points with 60 and assists with 34... Shawn Carrier has a team high 33 goals... Saint John is 10-14-3-0 on the road... Halifax is 12-12-2-2 at home... Saint John has the third best penalty kill in the QMJHL with a rating of 81.5%... the Sea Dogs are averaging 4.15 goals against per game, the second most in the league. The Mooseheads are averaging 3.97 goals against per game, the third most... Groulx has assists in five straight games.

Out of town:

Québec at Cape Breton - 7:00 PM AST 

Sherbrooke at Baie-Comeau - 7:00 PM EST 

Drummondville at Chicoutimi - 7:00 PM EST 

Blainville-Boisbriand at Rimouski - 7:00 PM EST 

Moncton at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:00 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs host the Charlottetown Islanders tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at TD Station.