Game Day 65: vs Wildcats

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs play their final home game of the regular season tonight at Harbour Station.

The Sea Dogs are still alive in the QMJHL's playoff race, but need a miracle to slide ahead of the 16th-place Val-d'Or Foreurs with just four games remaining.

Saint John will take on the Moncton Wildcats this evening in what will be the final meeting of the season between the two rivals. Game time is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs are 14-39-9-2 for 39 points (6th Maritimes, 17th QMJHL) while the Wildcats are 25-31-5-3 for 58 points (5th Maritimes, 15th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-4 loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan last night at Harbour Station. Cole Reginato, Anthony Boucher, Nathan Larose and William Poirier scored for Saint John. Matthew Williams made 28 saves through 40 minutes while Tommy DaSilva made 15 stops in the third. The Wildcats are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Wednesday in Sydney. Jack Tucker and James Phelan scored for Moncton. Mark Grametbauer made 17 saves in the loss.

2017-18 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 3-3-2-0 against the Wildcats this season while Moncton is 5-1-1-1 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Feb. 21 at Harbour Station where the Wildcats defeated the Sea Dogs 4-3 in overtime. Alexander Khovanov, Nicholas Welsh, James Phelan and Jeremy McKenna scored for Moncton. Anthony Boucher scored twice for Saint John while William Poirier added a single. Mark Grametbauer made 23 saves in the win. Alex D'Orio made 45 saves in the loss.

RECAP: Sea Dogs lose 6-4

FINAL: Bathurst 6, Saint John 4

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs blew a two-goal lead in a 6-4 loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Friday.

The Sea Dogs were up 2-0 and 3-1 at times but could not hang on, losing a back-and-forth affair to their provincial rivals at Harbour Station. The victory was Bathurst's sixth straight and moves them into a tie for first place in the Maritimes Division with the Halifax Mooseheads.

Like the last meeting between the two, the Titan got off to a slow start. This time they fell down 2-0 and then 3-1, but slowly climbed back. Bathurst tied the game at 4-4 late in the second and then took their first lead of the night with 32 seconds remaining. They would never trail again.

Antoine Morand scored twice for Bathurst while singles came from Olivier Galipeau, Adam Holwell, Jeffrey Truchon-Viel and Mitchell Balmas. Joseph Murdaca made 28 stops in the win.

Cole Reginato, Anthony Boucher, Nathan Larose and William Poirier scored for Saint John. Matthew Williams made 28 stops in 40 minutes of action. Tommy DaSilva played the third period, making 15 saves.

Game Day 64: vs Titan

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs and Acadie-Bathurst Titan meet for the final time this season tonight at Harbour Station.

The Sea Dogs ended a 10-game losing streak on Wednesday night at home, pulling off a surprising win over the Charlottetown Islanders. Saint John will be looking for just their second win in the past 10 games.

Game time tonight is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs are 14-38-9-2 for 39 points (6th Maritimes, 17th QMJHL) while Titan are 39-15-7-2 for 87 points (2nd Maritimes, 4th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-3 win over the Charlottetown Islanders on Wednesday night at Harbour Station. Ostap Safin scored twice while singles came from Luke Wilson, Alexis Girard and Aiden MacIntosh. Alex D'Orio made 42 saves in the win. The Titan last played on Sunday at Harbour Station, defeating the Sea Dogs 6-4. Jeffrey Truchon-Viel scored twice while solo markers came from Antoine Morand, Mitchell Balmas, Ethan Crossman and Noah Dobson. Joseph Murdaca made 25 saves in the win.

2017-18 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 1-7-0-0 against the Titan this season while Bathurst is 7-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: This past Sunday at Harbour Station where the Titan defeated the Sea Dogs 6-4. Jeffrey Truchon-Viel scored twice while solo markers came from Antoine Morand, Mitchell Balmas, Ethan Crossman and Noah Dobson. Saint John goals came from Cole Reginato, Anthony Boucher, Nathan Larose and Ben Reid. Joseph Murdaca made 25 saves in the win. Alex D'Orio made 60 stops in the loss.

RECAP: Sea Dogs win 5-3

FINAL: Charlottetown 3, Saint John 5
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SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs recorded a surprising win on Wednesday night at Harbour Station.

Despite allowing the game's first goal just 37 seconds in, the Sea Dogs won a back-and-forth affair with the Charlottetown Islanders, ending a 10-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory.

Ostap Safin scored a pair of goals, giving him 26 on the season and tying the Sea Dogs franchise record for a goals in a single season by a rookie. Luke Wilson, Alexis Girard and Aiden MacIntsoh added solo markers for Saint John.

After facing 66 shots on Sunday, Alex D'Orio had a lighter night, making 42 saves in the win.

Nikita Alexandrov, Taylor Egan and Derek Gentile all scored for Charlottetown. Matthew Welsh made 19 saves in the loss.

Saint John's last victory came on Feb. 9 at Harbour Station when the team pulled off a major upset, defeating the division-leading Halifax Mooseheads 6-3.

Game Day 63: vs Islanders

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs' home schedule continues to wind down.

The Sea Dogs will play their third-to-last home game of the season tonight at Harbour Station, hosting the Charlottetown Islanders at 7 p.m.

The Sea Dogs will be looking to snap a 10-game losing streak.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs are 13-38-9-2 for 37 points (6th Maritimes, 18th QMJHL) while the Islanders are 34-22-6-0 for 74 points (3rd Maritimes, 9th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-4 loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Sunday afternoon at Harbour Station. Cole Reginato, Anthony Boucher, Nathan Larose and Ben Reid all scored for Saint John. Alex D'Orio made 60 stops in the loss. The Islanders are coming off a 6-3 win in Moncton on Saturday. Pascal Aquin had a hat trick; Brett Budgell scored twice; and Cameron Askew added a solo marker. Matthew Welsh made 38 saves in the win.

2017-18 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 2-5-1-0 against the Islanders this season while Charlottetown is 6-1-1-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Feb. 25 at Eastlink Centre where the Islanders defeated the Sea Dogs 5-3. Nikita Alexandrov, Cayse Ton, Brett Budgell, Thomas Casey and Daniel Hardie all scored for Charlottetown. Radim Salda, William Poirier and Cole Reginato scored for Saint John. Matthew Welsh made 16 saves in the win. Alex D'Orio made 43 stops in the loss.

Sea Dogs nearing team records they probably don't want to set

Things have not gone well for the Saint John Sea Dogs this season.

With six games remaining in their season, the Sea Dogs need a miracle to make the playoffs. It's probably for the best that they don't, improving their chances of landing the first overall pick and avoiding a steamrolling by the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the opening round.

Saint John's season has been bad - historically bad. The Sea Dogs need to win two of their six remaining games just to tie the franchise record for fewest wins in a season. They need three to move ahead of the mark.

Historically, the Sea Dogs have always been solid on home ice. That has not been the case this season as the team is nearing the worst home record in franchise history.

Here's a breakdown of Saint John's overall and home records through the years.

Season	Overall	Home
2017-18	13-38-9-2 (37)	7-17-5-2 (21)
2016-17^	48-14-5-1 (102)	25-6-3-0 (53)
2015-16	42-20-6-0 (90)	23-9-2-0 (48)
2014-15	32-26-4-6 (74)	20-9-2-3 (45)
2013-14*	19-44-2-3 (43)	10-21-1-2 (23)
2012-13	23-44-1-0 (47)	13-21-0-0 (26)
2011-12^	50-15-0-3 (103)	28-5-0-1 (57)
2010-11^	58-7-1-2 (119)	32-0-1-1 (66)
2009-10	53-12-1-2 (109)	26-7-0-1 (53)
2008-09	34-30-2-2 (72)	18-14-2-0 (34)
2007-08	44-22-4-3 (89)	25-5-3-2 (55)
2006-07*	20-47-1-2 (43)	14-19-1-1 (30)
2005-06*	15-47-2-6 (38)	9-20-1-5 (24)

*Missed playoffs

^Won championship

The "loser points" the Sea Dogs have earned this year have at least helped the team's point total. Saint John has lost an incredible nine times in overtime, which ties them with the 1985-86 Longueuil Chevaliers and 2015-16 Moncton Wildcats for the second most in league history.

While the Sea Dogs' numbers are bad, they are not overly surprising. This is a team that is essentially in year zero of a rebuild; they traded away their captain; they lost their two top offensive players for a month at the world juniors; and they have been hit by the injury bug more than any other Sea Dogs team in recent memory.

There is really nowhere to go but up from this season.