Game Day 24: at Charlottetown

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI - The Saint John Sea Dogs look to make it back-to-back wins today in Charlottetown.

The Sea Dogs are coming off one of their best victories of the season, defeating the Halifax Mooseheads 7-2 at Scotiabank Centre on Friday. It was Saint John's first regulation time win since Oct. 6 in Charlottetown.

The Islanders, meanwhile, will look to stay hot. The team is 8-2 in their past 10 games and have won two straight.

Game time today is 3 p.m. at Eastlink Centre.

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

Records: The Sea Dogs are 5-12-4-2 for 16 points (6th Maritimes, 17th QMJHL) while the Islanders are 12-8-1-0 for 25 points (4th Maritimes, 9th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 7-2 win in Halifax on Friday night. Daniel Hardie netted a hat trick, Cedric Pare had two goals and singles came from Ostap Safin and Matt Green. Matt Williams made 25 stops in the win. The Islanders are coming off a 3-2 shootout win in Moncton last night. Nathanial Doyon and Hunter Drew scored for the Islanders. Matthew Welsh made 36 saves in the win.

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

Last meeting: Oct. 19 at Eastlink Centre where the Islanders edged the Sea Dogs 3-2. Cayse Ton, Pascal Aquin and Matthew Grouchy scored for Charlottetown. Cedric Pare and Nathan Larose had Saint John goals. Matthew Welsh made 26 saves in the win. Alex D'Orio made 21 stops in the loss.

News & Notes: Dogs look to keep momentum rolling Sunday against Isles

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI - What will the Saint John Sea Dogs have for an encore? That's the big question heading into Sunday's Sea Dogs game in Charlottetown.

Saint John is coming off one of its best - and few - wins of the season, defeating the Halifax Mooseheads 7-2 at Scotiabank Centre on Friday night. It was a victory that felt long overdue after weeks of close losses for the Sea Dogs.

Friday's win was Saint John's first regulation time victory since Oct. 6 - which came against the team and in the building the Dogs will face on Sunday. The Sea Dogs have had trouble picking up and maintaining momentum all season, so it'll be interesting to see how the team performs tomorrow against the Islanders.

Saint John and Charlottetown have headed in opposite directions since that Oct. 6 meeting at Eastlink Centre, which the Sea Dogs won 4-0. While the Dogs have just two wins since then, the Isles have been one of the hottest teams in the QMJHL. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games.

The Sea Dogs will be the rested team on Sunday with the Isles playing in Moncton this evening. Game time tomorrow is 3 p.m.

RECAP: Sea Dogs win 7-2

FINAL: Saint John 7, Halifax 2

HALIFAX - Well, would you look at that.

Led by Daniel Hardie, the Saint John Sea Dogs had an offensive outburst on Friday night at Scotiabank Centre, upsetting the Halifax Mooseheads 7-2.

The win was Saint John's first regulation time victory since Oct. 6. The win also ended a five losing streak and a seven game road losing skid.

Play was pretty even until a couple of quick Saint John goals midway through the second, which made it 4-2 Sea Dogs. The goals seemed to deflate Halifax and - combined with some opportunistic scoring - gave the Dogs momentum for the rest of the game.

Daniel Hardie scored a hat trick, Cedric Pare scored twice and singles came from Ostap Safin and Matt Green. Radim Salda recorded four assists. Matt Williams made 25 saves in the victory.

Saint John's power play had another strong night, going 3/5.

Connor Moynihan and Filip Zadina scored for the Mooseheads. Alexis Gravel was pulled after allowing four goals on 19 shots. Blade Mann-Dixon allowed three goals on 13 shots in relief.

Game Day 23: at Halifax

HALIFAX - The Saint John Sea Dogs return to action tonight following a week off.

The Sea Dogs will try and snap a five-game losing skid this evening in Halifax. Game time against the Mooseheads is 7 p.m.

Halifax sits second in the Maritimes Division and is an impressive 6-1-2-0 at home.

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

Records: The Sea Dogs are 4-12-4-2 for 14 points (6th Maritimes, 18th QMJHL) while the Mooseheads are 12-6-3-0 for 27 points (2nd Maritimes, 6th QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar last Friday at Harbour Station. Nicolas Deakin-Poot, Robbie Burt and Daniel Hardie all scored for Saint John. Alex D'Orio made 29 stops in the loss. The Mooseheads are coming off a 3-2 overtime win over the Sherbrooke Phoenix last Saturday in Halifax. Cooper Jones, Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Raphael Lavoie scored for the Moose. Blade Mann-Dixon made 21 saves in the victory.

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

Last meeting: Opening night at Harbour Station where the Mooseheads defeated the Sea Dogs 4-1. Maxime Fortier scored twice for Halifax while singles came from Filip Zadina and Xavier Parent. Daniel Hardie scored for Saint John. Alexis Gravel made 31 stops in the win. Alex D'Orio made 24 saves in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Mooseheads: Goaltender Blade Mann-Dixon

Sea Dogs sign, recall Joel Goguen

The Saint John Sea Dogs made another roster move on Thursday, signing and recalling goaltender Joel Goguen.

Goguen, 18, attended Sea Dogs training camp as a free agent. He will now be an affiliate with the team.

The Cocagne, New Brunswick native has appeared in eight games with the MHL's Amherst Ramblers this year, posting a 3-3-1 record with a 2.45 goals against average and a .920 save percentage.

According to a Sea Dogs press release, Goguen "spent most of last season with the Kent Koyotes of the New Brunswick Junior Hockey League (NBJHL)."

The recall indicates that regular Saint John backup goaltender Matt Williams remains injured. The team has been using Stewart Bagnell as a backup for the past few weeks.

Yesterday, the Sea Dogs signed 20-year-old defenceman Brendan O'Reilly.

Saint John is back in action on Friday night in Halifax, facing the Mooseheads at 7 p.m.

Canada Russia Series ends tonight

MONCTON - Joe Veleno and Team QMJHL wrap up the 2017 Canada Russia Series tonight at the Moncton Coliseum.

Veleno had a strong performance on Tuesday night in Charlottetown, helping set up the game winning goal in a 3-1 Team QMJHL victory.

Tuesday's win gave the CHL an edge in the series heading into tonight's finale.

According to the CHL website, "up 9-6 in points, a QMJHL win on Thursday in Moncton would secure a third straight series victory for the Canadian Hockey League."

Some other notes...

• Nice to see a crowd of 3,613 at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown on Tuesday. The attendance number was just shy of s sell out, apparently.
• This is the first time a Canada Russia Series game has been played in Moncton since Nov. 22, 2005. Team QMJHL won that game 6-4.
• Samuel Harvey will start in goal again tonight, according to media reports. He may play himself into a world junior camp invite.

Photo: Vincent Ethier