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| Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs |
The Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats will play the first two games of their best-of-seven first round series Friday and Saturday night, respectively. Both games have 7 p.m. starts.
This will be Saint John's first playoff appearance since the 2023-24 season and they have not won a playoff series since the 2017 QMJHL final. Moncton, meanwhile, are looking to repeat as league champions – and they've got a legitimate chance of doing so after posting a 104-point season.
The Wildcats are the heavy favourites to win this series. For the Sea Dogs, this is likely a series where they'll look for small victories. Can they win shifts. Can they win periods. Can they keep these games close. Most importantly, it'll be about gaining some experience for next season.
This is just the second playoff series between the provincial rivals. They last met in the 2010 QMJHL final, which Moncton won in six games.
Stream/TV/Radio: FloHockey/None/None
Series status: These are the first two games of the best-of-seven first round series.
Regular season records: The Sea Dogs were 23-36-5-0 for 51 points (eighth Eastern/15th QMJHL) while the Wildcats were 50-10-2-2 for 104 points (first Eastern/first QMJHL).
Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 3-2 win in Cape Breton on Saturday. Angelo Fullerton scored a pair of goals while Nolann Héroux added a single. Rafaël Courchesne made 24 saves in the win. The Wildcats are coming off a 6-1 home win over the Charlottetown Islanders on Saturday. Niko Tournas scored twice for Moncton while singles came from Gabe Smith, Caleb Desnoyers, Kuzma Voronin and Preston Lounsbury. Rudy Guimond only faced 16 shots in the win.
2025-26 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 1-7-0-0 against the Wildcats in the regular season while Moncton went 7-1-0-0 against Saint John.
Last meeting: March 8 in Moncton where the Wildcats defeated the Sea Dogs 6-3. Niko Tournas scored twice for Moncton while Kuzma Voronin, Tommy Bleyl, Caleb Desnoyers and Preston Lounsbury added singles. Zachary Morin, Alexis Joseph and Nolann Héroux had Saint John goals. Jacoby Weiner made 21 saves in the win. Arseni Radkov made 42 stops in the loss.
Ex-Sea Dogs on the Wildcats: Defenseman Max Vilen.
Wildcat to watch: Caleb Desnoyers posted 16 points (four goals and 12 assists) in six games against Saint John in the regular season.
Random stat: Wildcats goaltender Rudy Guimond led the league in minutes, wins, saves, goals against average and save percentage.
Notes: Olivier Groulx led Saint John in scoring in the regular season with 66 points. He also had a team high 46 assists... Angelo Fullerton led the team in goals with 27... Tommy Bleyl led Moncton in points with 81 and assists with 68... Niko Tournas had a team high 43 goals... Saint John was 12-17-3-0 on the road... Moncton was 24-7-1-0 at home... Bleyl led the QMJHL in assists (68) and power play points (42)... Everett Baldwin finished in a tie for the league lead in goals by defensemen with 15... the Wildcats had the league's second best power play (31.8%) and penalty kill (82.4%)... the Sea Dogs' penalty kill really struggled down the stretch and finished 10th (78.2%)... Saint John finished in a tie for the most shorthanded goals scored with 14... Moncton scored the second most goals per game (4.66) and allowed the second fewest goals against per game (2.53)... Saint John averaged 4.12 goals against per game, the third most in the QMJHL... Gabe Smith has goals in four straight games and points in eight straight... Preston Lounsbury has goals in four straight home games... the Wildcats have won nine straight games overall and five straight at home.
Out of town Friday:
Cape Breton at Newfoundland - 7:00 PM NDT
Québec at Charlottetown - 7:00 PM ADT
Victoriaville at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:00 PM EDT
Halifax at Chicoutimi - 7:00 PM EDT
Val-d'Or at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EDT
Gatineau at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:00 PM EDT
Sherbrooke at Shawinigan - 7:00 PM EDT
Out of town Saturday:
Victoriaville at Blainville-Boisbriand - 4:00 PM EDT
Gatineau at Rouyn-Noranda - 4:00 PM EDT
Sherbrooke at Shawinigan - 4:00 PM EDT
Québec at Charlottetown - 7:00 PM ADT
Halifax at Chicoutimi - 7:00 PM EDT
Val-d'Or at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EDT
Next game: Games 3 and 4 will take place Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, at TD Station. Both will have 7 p.m. start times.
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