RECAP: Sea Dogs Lose 5-4

FINAL: Victoriaville 5, Saint John 4

By Kevin Chambers | SN Staff

SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs had their 15-game point streak come to an end on Saturday night at Harbour Station, falling 5-4 to the Victoriaville Tigres.

The Sea Dogs were down 4-1 after two periods but stormed back to tie it at 4-4 in the third. But with 1:40 left, Vincent Lanoue scored what proved to be the game-winner.

Despite lots of end-to-end action, it took until the 14:37 mark of the opening period for Marc Beckstead to open the scoring, beating Alex Bishop on a breakaway chance. James Phelan then took a frustration penalty, slashing Jakub Zboril at 16:38, and the Sea Dogs would make them pay when Mathieu Joseph tied the game with his 26^th of the season, banking it off a Tigres defender.

The second period resembled the first period with plenty of back and forth action early on with the majority of the pressure coming from the Sea Dogs. Once again it was the Tigres striking first in the period with Mario Huber beating Bishop to give the Tigres a 2-1 lead at 7:23. Later in the frame, the Sea Dogs thought they scored when Joseph beat Olivier Tremblay but the goal was waved off due to goaltender interference. The Tigres would score on the subsequent power play with the goal coming from Mathieu Ayotte at 16:01. The goals would continue for the Tigres with Alexandre Goulet getting in on the action, beating Bishop and giving the Tigres a 4-1 lead heading into the third period. 

With Matthew Williams now in net for Saint John, the Sea Dogs would mount a comeback beginning with Luke Green scoring a highlight reel goal at 12:52, making it 4-2. Joseph would get the Dogs within one on what could have been his third of the game at 15:06. Then at 15:59, Saint John would complete the comeback with Nathan Noel beating Tremblay to tie the game at 4-4. The comeback was all for not though as Lanoue would net the winner with just 1:40 left in the contest, giving the Tigres a 5-4 win.

March Gets Even Busier

Friday’s postponed Sea Dogs-Titan game will be made up on March 1 at Harbour Station.

Make-up game @ABTitan scheduled for Mar 1. Feb 5 tix good for Mar 1. If can't make Mar 1, can exchange til Feb 13 for diff reg season game.

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) February 6, 2016

The move turns an already busy March into an even busier one for the Sea Dogs. The team will now play 10 games in a span of 19 days during the month – half of which will be on the road.

The March 1 game will be the first of three meetings between the Sea Dogs and Titan in March. There’s a chance the two could meet in the first round of the playoffs.

GAME DAY 50: vs Tigres

After having last night’s game snowed out, the Saint John Sea Dogs (32-13-4-0, 68 points, 1^st Maritimes, 3^rd QMJHL) are back in action tonight when they host the Victoriaville Tigres (24-19-3-4, 55 points, 3^rd East, 9^th QMJHL) at 7 p.m.

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

Last games: The Tigres are coming off a 5-4 overtime victory in Moncton last night. Maxime Comtois, Bradley Lalonde, Pascal Laberge, Alexandre Goulet and Vincent Lanoue scored for the Tigres while Povall James made 35 saves in the win. The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-1 win over the Wildcats in Moncton on Wednesday night. Daniel Del Paggio scored twice while singles came from Sam Povorozniouk and Nathan Noel. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 17 saves before leaving the game with an injury. Alex Bishop stopped all 11 shots he faced in relief.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 0-1-0-0 against the Tigres this season while Victoriaville is 1-0-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Oct. 16 in Victoriaville where the Tigres defeated the Sea Dogs 5-2. Marc Beckstead and Mario Huber each scored twice for Victoriaville and Carl Marois chipped in a solo marker. Thomas Chabot and Bokondji Imama scored for Saint John. Olivier Tremblay made 38 saves in the win while Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 19 in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Tigres: None.

Player to watch: Maxime Comtois, selected third overall in the 2015 QMJHL Entry Draft, is second in rookie scoring with 25 goals and 25 assists in 44 games. He ended a five-game pointless streak last night in Moncton, registering a goal and an assist.

Three Things to Know

1. Saint John’s point streak is now at 15 games (13-0-2). They are also on a five-game winning streak overall and a six-game winning streak at home.

2. Nathan Noel has a 15-game point streak going while Matthew Highmore and Sam Povorozniouk each have points in 10 straight games.

3. This is the final game of a three-in-three for the Tigres. They defeated the Titan 1-0 on Thursday and Wildcats 5-4 in OT last night. They’ve won three straight games overall.

DOGS DAILY: Del Paggio, Smith Suspended

The Sea Dogs will be without forward Daniel Del Paggio for the next three games.

Del Paggio was suspended by the QMJHL on Friday for his hit on Conor Garland in Wednesday's game. Garland left the game and did not return but did play in Moncton’s Friday night match against Victoriaville.

The QMJHL website has a very lengthy explanation of the suspension.

There are reports that Will Smith, who ran over and injured Sea Dogs goaltender Marc-Antoine Turcotte, has received a two-game suspension. That has not been posted on the QMJHL website. 

In other news…

• The Sea Dogs are back in action on Saturday night at 7 p.m. when they host the Victoriaville Tigres.
• Former Sea Dogs goaltender Jacob DeSerres was traded by the ECHL’s Colorado Eagles to the Adirondack Thunder this past week. Michael Kirkpatrick is a member of the Thunder.
• The Guardian has an article on former Sea Dogs defenseman Will Thompson. 
• If you’ve been wondering what Danny Wicks, who played six games with Saint John in 2011-12, is up to these days.
• Hockey’s Future has an article on Luke Green.

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Tonight's Game Postponed

Tonight’s Sea Dogs-Titan game at Harbour Station has been postponed due to nasty weather conditions.

The game will be rescheduled for a later date.

According to a Sea Dogs press release, “fans holding tickets for tonight can exchange them at the Harbour Station Box Office for any of the Sea Dogs' remaining 2015-16 regular season home games.”

This game was supposed to kick off a five-game home stand for the Sea Dogs. They’ll host the Victoriaville Tigres tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

GAME DAY 50: vs Titan

The first-place Saint John Sea Dogs (32-13-4-0, 68 points, 1^st Maritimes, 3^rd QMJHL) look to keep their point streak alive tonight when they host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan (20-26-3-2, 45 points, 5^th Maritimes, 15^th QMJHL) at 7:30 p.m.

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

Last games: The Titan are coming off a 1-0 home loss to the Victoriaville Tigres last night. Reilly Pickard made 31 saves in the loss. The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-1 win over the Wildcats in Moncton on Wednesday night. Daniel Del Paggio scored twice while singles came from Sam Povorozniouk and Nathan Noel. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 17 saves before leaving the game with an injury. Alex Bishop stopped all 11 shots he faced in relief.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 4-1-1-0 against the Titan this season while Bathurst is 2-3-0-1 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Last Saturday at the KC Irving Regional Centre where the Sea Dogs defeated the Titan 5-3. Matthew Highmore, Sam Povorozniouk, Joe Veleno, Mathieu Joseph and Matt Green all scored for Saint John. Bathurst goals came from Jason Bell, Jordan Maher and Daniil Miromanov. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 29 saves in the win while Reilly Pickard made 26 in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Titan: Forward Dawson Theede and defenseman Jason Bell.

Player to watch: Nathan Noel continues to produce during this impressive run by the Sea Dogs. Noel now has a 15-game point streak going, a streak that has seen him collect 25 points. He has not been held pointless since Dec. 17.

Three Things to Know

1. While Nathan Noel currently has the longest point streak in the league going right now, Matthew Highmore and Sam Povorozniouk are close behind him with points in 10 straight games.

2. Saint John’s point streak is now at 15 games (13-0-2). They are also on a five-game winning streak overall and a six-game winning streak at home.

3. It appears Alex Bishop will be Saint John’s No. 1 goaltending for the time being with Marc-Antoine Turcotte on the shelf. Bishop is 2-0-0-0 against the Titan this season with a 3.84 GAA and .889 SV%.