News & Notes From Thursday's Game

Oh, what a surprise. Lukas Walter and Kyle Haas dropped the gloves early in the first period of last night’s game. Video via HockeyFights.com.

Including pre-season, Walter and Haas have now fought each other four times this year.

Some other stuff from last night’s game…

• Moncton clearly had lots of energy when they stepped out of the room and onto the ice. The Wildcats scored within the first two minutes of each period last night, including Conor Garland’s goal which came 54 seconds into the game to open the scoring.
• Garland had quite night, scoring once and setting up four more.
• Ryan Penny scored a hat trick in this game. He had three goals all season entering the contest.
• A positive for Saint John: Noah Zilbert snapped his scoreless streak with a third period goal. It was just his second of the season and first since opening night (September 13^th). In an interview that aired on News 88.9, Zilbert said that these were frustrating times for him.
• Another positive for Saint John: defenseman Jeremy Doucet scored his first QMJHL goal in the third. Doucet, acquired from Bathurst last season, was playing in his 59^th Q game.
• With a goal and an assist last night, Matthew Highmore has two goals and two assists in his last three games.
• Antoine Landry made his fourth start of the season and gave up eight goals on 39 shots. It certainly wasn’t his greatest performance of the year but Saint John’s defense didn’t have their greatest performance either. This was Landry’s first start since October 6^th. All four of his starts have been on the road – two in Moncton and two in Bathurst.
• Mackenzie Brown returned to the Sea Dogs lineup. He hadn’t played since October 26^th due to an upper body injury. Brown had five shots and was a -3 last night.
• Stephen Anderson can’t catch a break these days. He had a couple of good chances in this game but was denied by Alex Dubeau. He hasn’t scored since October 4^th.
• Sea Dogs scratches were forwards Spencer Smallman (upper body) and Samuel Dove-McFalls (upper body) along with defensemen Michael Abbott (upper body) and Will Thompson (upper body). In a pre-game interview that aired on News 88.9, Sea Dogs head coach Ross Yates said Smallman could return as early as Saturday while the team is hoping Abbott can return for the Quebec road trip next week.
• Moncton now leads the all-important Rivalry Cup standings 3-1. Oh man.
• The Sea Dogs have lost five straight road games. They play their next four on the road, including a three-in-three in Quebec next week.

RECAP: Ouch. Dogs Lose 8-3.

FINAL: Saint John 3, Moncton 8

MONCTON – The Moncton Wildcats seem to save their best for last when playing the Saint John Sea Dogs.

The Wildcats scored four times in the third period when these teams last met. On Thursday at the Moncton Coliseum, the ‘Cats topped that by scoring five in the third in a 8-3 victory over the Sea Dogs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.

Ryan Penny had a hat trick for Moncton while Conor Garland, Cameron Yarwood, Christophe Lalonde, Ivan Barbashev, and Will Smith added singles. Garland also had an impressive four assists. Alex Dubeau made 35 saves for the win.

Saint John had goals from Matthew Highmore, Noah Zilbert, and Jeremy Doucet. Zilbert snapped a long goalless drought and Doucet netted his first QMJHL goal – these were two of the few positives for the Dogs on this night. Antoine Landry got a rare start in net and, despite allowing eight goals on 39 shots, certainly wasn’t the main factor in this loss.

The Sea Dogs just aren’t playing well these days. This was the team’s fifth straight road loss and the beginning of five straight away from Harbour Station. It could be a rough few weeks in Sea Dogs land.

QUICK CAP: Dogs Lose 8-3

FINAL: Saint John 3, Moncton 8

MONCTON – Ryan Penny scored a hat trick to help the Moncton Wildcats defeat the Saint John Sea Dogs 8-3 on Thursday night at the Coliseum.

Also scoring for Moncton was Conor Garland, Cameron Yarwood, Christophe Lalonde, Ivan Barbashev, and Will Smith. Alex Dubeau made 35 saves for the win.

Saint John had goals from Matthew Highmore, Noah Zilbert, and Jeremy Doucet. Antoine Landry got a rare start in net and allowed eight goals on 39 shots in the loss.

More to come…

Here Is Landry's New Mask

Via @SeaDogsDK, here is Antoine Landry’s new mask.

Just got @AntoineLandry33 's mask from Gilders design.. he does an unbelievable work! pic.twitter.com/EDLjTPKEZL
— DK (@SeaDogsDK) November 7, 2013

GAMEDAY 21 - at Moncton

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Moncton Wildcats

Tonight at 7:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation

Moncton Coliseum – Moncton, NB

PREVIEW

MONCTON – The Saint John Sea Dogs will be looking to at least score a goal tonight.

The Sea Dogs are coming off a 1-0 loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Tuesday night at Harbour Station. Saint John looked flat and were shutout for the second time this season. The Dogs will be looking to rebound from that loss tonight when they take on the Moncton Wildcats this evening at 7pm.

Saint John enters play today with a 6-12-0-2 record which places them last in the Telus Maritimes Division and 17^th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They are two points back of the 16^th-place Titan and six points up on last place Shawinigan.

The Dogs are only 1-8-0-1 in their last 10 games. They ended their nine-game losing streak last Saturday but could not carry over that momentum into Tuesday’s contest.

Oliver Cooper leads the team in scoring with seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points in 20 games.

The Wildcats enter action with a 9-12-0-1 record which is good for fourth in the Maritimes Division and 14^th overall. They are 4-5-0-1 in their last 10.

Ivan Barbashev, who returned to the Moncton lineup last Friday in Saint John, leads the Wildcats in scoring with eight goals and 16 assists for 24 points in 17 games. He’s pretty good.

Sam Cosentino On Mike Kelly Firing

Sam Cosentino has a column up on Sportsnet.ca with his take on the Mike Kelly firing. You should go check that out.

Cosentino cites four reasons why Kelly’s GM work may have cost him his job with the Sea Dogs.

1. The Ryan Tesink trade mess

2. The drafting of Juraj Siska

3. Not trading Pierre Durepos

4. The Kevin Gagne trade

The Tesink trade mess is an interesting one and not something I’ve really though about. Could definitely see some teams being hesitant to swing big deals with Saint John after that fiasco. No matter who was right or wrong during that ordeal, nobody came out looking good.

The Siska situation is a weird one and I certainly don't know all the details. Kelly did say in an interview during training camp that he was willing to wait all season on Siska if needed.

Not trading Durepos at the deadline last winter… I don’t know about that one. The problem with 20-year olds is that even if you have a quality player – such as Durepos – you still need to find a trading partner who either has an open overage slot or is willing to open an overage slot. That’s not always easy. Plus, finding a team with a slot and then trying to get good value in the trade isn’t easy either. Cosentino writes that Durepos “likely would’ve netted a king’s ransom” which I don’t believe would have been the case. Durepos was a very good defenseman in this league but he wasn’t exactly a Brandon Gormley.

Going along the same lines as the non-trade of Durepos, I thought the Dogs got decent value for Gagne whose career high in points before 2012-13 was 35.