RECAP: Sea Dogs struggle in return from Christmas break
MONCTON, NB – The Saint John Sea Dogs had a strong start in their return from the Christmas break on Saturday in Moncton. Dylan Rozzi opened the scoring with his fifth of the season but the Sea Dogs ultimately fell 7-2 to the league-leading Moncton Wildcats.
Nicolas Bilodeau notched his second of the season, marking the only other tally for Saint John.
Caleb Desnoyers led the Wildcats with two goals, while Markus Vidicek, Riley Sampson, Étienne Morin, Adam Fortier-Gendron, and Mitchell Wagner also found the back of the net.
GAME SUMMARY
The Sea Dogs struck first 6:09 into the opening period when Elliot Dubé fed Dylan Rozzi, who lifted the puck over Jacob Steinman’s pad. Just over a minute later, the Wildcats responded as Alex Mercier, from behind the net, set up Markus Vidicek to tie the game 1-1.
At 13:20, the Wildcats gained the lead when Simon Mullen’s initial shot was mishandled by Justin Robinson and the rebound was banged in by Riley Sampson, making it 2-1. Moncton extended their lead at 17:15 when Mercier’s shot deflected off Caleb Desnoyers and into the net. With 22 seconds remaining in the first, Étienne Morin fired a wrist shot past a screened Robinson after a setup by Adam Fortier-Gendron.
Saint John cut the deficit to 4-2 with just one second left in the period as Nicolas Bilodeau jammed home Zach Morin’s rebound on the powerplay. The Wildcats struck again at 16:41 in the second period, as a faceoff win led to Fortier-Gendron scoring with assists from Yoan Loshing and Vincent Collard.
At 8:08 in the third, Etienne Morin sent a stretch pass to Desnoyers, who slid the puck five-hole on Robinson for his second of the night. Moncton capped off the scoring at 13:16 when Maxime Côté set up Mitchell Wagner for his first career goal, making it a 7-2 final score.
STATISTICS
SOG: SNB – 31 | MON – 48
PP: SNB – 1/5 | MON – 0/1
Faceoffs: SNB – 25 | MON – 40
GOALTENDING BATTLE
Saint John: Justin Robinson (41 saves / 48 shots)
Moncton: Jacob Steinman (29 saves / 31 shots)
3 STARS
1st: MON – Etienne Morin – 1G, 3A
2nd: MON – Caleb Desnoyers – 2G
3rd: MON – Adam Fortier-Gendron – 1G, 1A
UP NEXT
Next game for the Sea Dogs is Tuesday, December 31st when they travel up north to take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 2:00 pm at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre.
For the latest Sea Dogs news, visit SJSeaDogs.com, or follow the team on Facebook (Facebook.com/sjseadogs), Twitter (@SJSeaDogs), and Instagram (@SJSeaDogs).
