Wildcats survive furious Sea Dog rally for 8-5 win
The Moncton Wildcats defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs for the 4th time this season on Friday night, but it wasn't easy.
The Cats had to extinguish a dramatic Saint John rally. With Moncton leading 6-1 early in the second period, the Sea Dogs caught fire with 4 straight goals to make it 6-5. It took a pair of late third period goals from Charles Beaudoin and Étienne Morin's empty netter to make it official -- 8-5 before 2800 fans at TD Station.
Max Barbashev set up four goals and was named First Star. Third Star Beaudoin also added three assists for a 4-point night. Morin finished with 2 goals and one assist and Preston Lounsbury also scored twice with an assist. Morin leads all QMJHL defensemen in goals scored with 13.
Other Wildcats goals went to Frankie Iasenza, Miles Müller and Nic Pavan. The Seadogs outshot Moncton 39-36 and Vincent Filion recorded the victory, with 34 saves for the Wildcats.
Box score & highlights: https://theqmjhl.ca/gamecentre/30055/boxscore
Moncton is now 14-11-0-2 with a Sunday matinée in at Centre 200 in Sydney against the Cape Breton Eagles at 3 pm.
The Wildcats have one home game remaining before the Christmas Break -- Friday December 16 vs the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 7 pm. This will also be the 'Christmas Fan Appreciation Night' at Avenir Centre.