SEA DOGS IMPROVE TO 17-0-0-1 AT HOME WITH 5-3 WIN OVER MOOSEHEADS The Saint John Sea Dogs wrapped up their opening-half home schedule by earning a hard-fought victory on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Halifax Mooseheads by a score of 5-3 to improve to 17-0-0-1 at Harbour Station and a 27-4-0-2 overall on the season. Jonathan Huberdeau (2), Zack Phillips, Mike Thomas, and Kevin Gagné all scored for Saint John in their fifth win of the year over Halifax, with overage goaltender Jacob DeSerres making a season-high 43 saves in picking up the 11th victory of his season. At the other end of the ice, Trey Lewis, Luca Ciampini, and Darcy Ashley found the back of the net for the Mooseheads while Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Mathieu Corbeil stopped 30 shots in a losing effort for the Maritime Division's sixth-place team. Saint John drew first blood on Sunday as sophomore sniper Zack Phillips one-timed a spectacular feed from Steven Anthony to the back of the Mooseheads' net in the 13th minute of play to register his 23rd goal of the season. Phillips then set a side-of-the-net-lurking Jonathan Huberdeau up for a tap-in tally a moment later, doubling his team's scoreboard advantage in the process. Veteran defenseman Kevin Gagné put the hosts up 3-0 five minutes into the second period, ripping a wrist shot past Corbeil from the slot area to make the fourth goal of his season of the power play variety. The Mooseheads responded with a man-up marker of their own at the 14:34 mark of the middle frame, with Darcy Ashley shoveling home a rebound produced by a Carl Gelinas point shot. A long-range slap shot off the stick of Trey Lewis reduced the visitors' deficit to one at the 5:09 mark of the third period, but Huberdeau's second tally of the match gave the home team a two-goal cushion ten minutes later. Team Captain Mike Thomas then added a short-handed empty-net marker to give the Sea Dogs a three-goal lead in the final minute of play, with a relatively meaningless offensive strike from rookie forward Luca Ciampini following shortly thereafter to make the final score Saint John 5 -- Halifax 3.