Recap: Sea Dogs lose 5-4 (OT)

FINAL: Cape Breton 5, Saint John 4 (OT)

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs let a strong start slip away on Friday.

The Sea Dogs opened the scoring just 26 seconds into the game and had one of their best first periods of the season only to struggle in the final 40-plus minutes, ultimately falling 5-4 in overtime to the Cape Breton Eagles at TD Station.

The Sea Dogs have now lost four straight games and are still looking for their first regulation time win. The team's record of 1-3-2-1 places them in the basement of the Maritimes Division due to the Moncton Wildcats winning on Friday.

Saint John grabbed a 2-0 lead early in the second period in what proved to be an entertaining, back-and-forth match for much of the night. The Eagles stormed back with goals from Liam Kidney and Ryan Francis and the teams headed into the third tied 3-3. Shots were 16-7 in favour of the Eagles in the middle frame.

Cape Breton took a 4-3 lead just 2:43 into the third. William Villeneuve's first of the season at 13:46 tied things up again.

Shawn Element gave the Eagles the win, firing a quick one-timer past Noah Patenaude at 1:18 of overtime.

Francis scored two goals for Cape Breton while singles came from Element, Liam Kidney and Francois-James Buteau. Nicolas Ruccia made 24 stops in the win.

Villeneuve, Cam MacDonald, Charles Savoie and Joshua Roy scored for Saint John. Patenaude made 32 stops in the loss.

Some good news: Saint John won't have much time to think about this loss. The two teams meet again tomorrow for a rare 3 p.m. Saturday start.

QMJHL, OHL both dealt blows

SAINT JOHN - The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League have both been dealt some harsh blows less than 24 hours apart.

On Thursday night, the QMJHL issued a statement confirming that teams within Quebec's red zones would not be permitted to resume games. Four Quebec-based teams - Rimouski, Baie-Comeau, Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d'Or - are scheduled to return to action on Friday night for the first time since Thanksgiving weekend.

"Following a constructive meeting with Public Health Officials held earlier today, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announces the postponement of games for teams located in red zones until further notice," stated the league's press release. "All games planned for this weekend will be rescheduled. The rest of the regular season schedule will be re-evaluated next week.

"However, Quebec Public Health Officials have shown an openness to a potential bubble project for teams located in red zones. The league will be exploring different scenarios with Public Health Officials in the upcoming days and work towards possible solutions so that these teams can resume play as soon as possible."

Obviously this is bad news for the QMJHL and, obviously, a bubble has plenty of logistical and financial hurdles. There's not an easy solution here.

On Friday, just days after the OHL announced it had pushed its start date to February, the Canadian Press first reported that Ontario will indeed not allow the OHL to return to play if bodychecking is permitted. This information came out a while ago, but many thought the OHL would find a way around it.

Game Day 7 & 8: vs Eagles

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs will look to end a three-game losing streak this weekend against the Cape Breton Eagles.

The Sea Dogs will host the Eagles tonight at 7 p.m. and again on Saturday at 3 p.m. It's the first meetings of the regular season between the two teams that split a pair of pre-season matches.

Neither club is off to a blistering start with the Sea Dogs winning just one of their first six games and the Eagles winning three of their first eight.

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV/93 CFBC AM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs are 1-3-1-1 for four points (sixth Maritimes, 13th QMJHL) while the Eagles are 3-5-0-0 for six points (fourth Maritimes, eighth QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-3 home loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday. Julian Vander Voet, Alex Drover and Joshua Roy all scored for Saint John. Creed Jones allowed five goals on 20 shots through 40 minutes of play while Noah Patenaude made 11 saves in the third. The Eagles are coming off a 10-2 home loss to the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday. Felix Lafrance and Lucas Canning scored for Cape Breton. William Grimard allowed two goals on 12 shots in the first period while Nicolas Ruccia allowed eight goals on 22 shots the rest of the way. 

2020-21 head-to-head: This is the first meeting of the regular season between the two teams.

2019-20 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 2-5-0-0 against the Eagles last season while Cape Breton went 5-1-0-1 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Sept. 19 in pre-season play where the Sea Dogs edged the Eagles 5-4 in a shootout at Centre 200. Liam Leonard, Alex Drover, Cam MacDonald and Christopher Inniss scored for Saint John. Cape Breton goals came from Nathan Larose (two), Felix Lafrance and Lucas Canning. Daniel Moody made 34 stops in the win. Nicolas Ruccia made 25 stops in the loss.

OHL start pushed; four Q teams return

Ontario Hockey League teams will have to wait a few more months to begin their 2020-21 seasons (or... is it just 2021 season now?).

While the OHL has not confirmed the reports, both Sportsnet's Jeff Marek and TSN's Darren Dreger have reported that the start of the league's season has been pushed to Feb. 4.

- 1 or 2 exhibition games Jan 29 - 31 then right into the season.
- There was no talk about what happens with U.S teams.
- No details about how how games/schedule will be determined but it is believed teams may only play against 4 or 5 other squads.

— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) October 28, 2020

The league had been aiming for a Dec. 1 start, a date that was looking more and more unlikely by the day given the steady rise of COVID-19 cases in many parts of Ontario. Still, the Feb. 4 date is a bit of a surprise given the WHL's plan to start in early January.

Marek added that, under this format, the OHL's season would end May 14 - two weeks later than the league had announced in August.

The Memorial Cup host, meanwhile, still has not been announced. It is, for the time being, scheduled to be hosted by either Oshawa or Sault Ste. Marie from June 17-27.

Three Dogs make NHL Central Scouting list

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Three Saint John Sea Dogs cracked NHL Central Scouting's "Players to Watch" list for the 2021 NHL Draft.

Forwards Joshua Roy and Peter Reynolds were awarded 'B' ratings, indicating a second- or third-round candidate. Forward Cam MacDonald, meanwhile, was given a 'C' ratting, meaning a fourth-, fifth- or sixth-round candidate.

Roy currently leads the Sea Dogs in scoring with four goals and six points in six games. Reynolds has registered two goals and two assists in his first QMJHL season while MacDonald has one helper.

Two Sea Dogs draft picks also made the list. Forward Fyodor Svechkov, who the Sea Dogs selected in the first-round of this year's CHL Import Draft (but remains a long shot to report), was given an 'A' rating, indicating a first-round pick. Svechkov is currently playing in Russia.

Defenseman Guillaume Richard, a fourth-round pick of the Dogs in this year's QMJHL Entry Draft, was given a 'B' rating. Richard, a University of Maine commit, is currently playing with the USHL's Tri-City Storm.

Only three current QMJHL players - Rimouski's Zachary Bolduc, Halifax's Zachary L'Heureux and Shawinigan's Xavier Bourgault - were given 'A' ratings.

The full list can be found here.

Notebook: Quebec's restrictions extended

All 18 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams are scheduled to play this Friday - but that is certainly looking unlikely.

At a press conference Monday, Quebec premier Francois Legault announced that the province's red zone restrictions will remain in place for another four weeks, stretching them to Nov. 23. The current restrictions were set to expire on Oct. 28 but with new COVID-19 infections nowhere close to being under control yet - the province has been averaging between 800 to 1,000 new cases daily, the Montreal Gazette notes - it comes as no surprise to see an extension.

This likely means bad news for the QMJHL's 12 Quebec-based teams - but we will see. Only the six Maritimes Division clubs have been in action since Thanksgiving weekend.

Even if the league finds a way to get clearance to play, it sounds like some teams are hesitant to return. The Sherbrooke Phoenix, for example, are still getting their playing legs back under them after several players tested positive a few weeks ago, reports La Tribune. Over the weekend, the QMJHL announced that seven members of the Drummondville Voltigeurs had confirmed cases.

The OHL, meanwhile, has not pushed its early December start date - but you have to think that announcement is coming. The WHL recently pushed its start to early January.

UP NEXT

The Saint John Sea Dogs are one of the lucky few teams that get to play right now - but it has been a rocky start.

The Sea Dogs are 1-3-1-1 with their lone win coming in a shootout. The team lost both of its games this past weekend and have now dropped three straight.

Saint John will face the Cape Breton Eagles on Friday and Saturday at TD Station, a team they have yet to face in the regular season. The two met twice in the pre-season with the team's splitting the series - both of which ended in shootouts.

The Eagles are 3-5-0-0 and are coming off a brutal 10-2 home loss to the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday.