SEA DOGS POST-GAME NOTEBOOK

TITAN-SEA DOGS GAME AT A GLANCE
Final Score: Acadie-Bathurst 1, Saint John 5
Saint John Goals: Stanislav Galiev (14), Mike Hoffman (35), Nicholas Petersen (34), Michael Kirkpatrick (24), and Tomas Jurco (20)
Acadie-Bathurst Goals: David Gilbert (15)
Winning Goaltender: SNB – Marco Cousineau (19-15-0)
Losing Goaltender: BAT – Francois Lacerte (10-9-0)
News 88.9 Top Dog: Saint John Defence Corp (Yes, they can do that)

THE NUMBERS
Power Play: Titan 0/6, Sea Dogs 3/5
Shots on Goal: Titan: 6+10+9=25, Sea Dogs: 10+14+17=41
Attendance: 3,308

SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
The Sea Dogs were missing Kevin Gagne for the first time this season as he missed the game with a lower body injury. Gabriel Bourret took his place in the lineup.

Also scratched for the second straight game was Stephen MacAulay who has been diagnosed with an upper body injury. Station Nation can say that MacAulay was seen last Saturday at the Moncton Coliseum with no obvious injury. Will Johnston was called up to take his place.

HURTIN’ DOGS
Good thing Will Johnston was called to replace an injured Stephen MacAulay. “Will the Thrill” got hurt in the first period after taking a hit behind the net. He left the game and didn’t return.

Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu and the rest of the Sea Dogs thought the playoffs had started and were blocking shots left and right all game. Beaulieu got down and blocked an Eric Faille shot with his leg in the third period. He left and did not return.

Also injured was Christian Morin who left for part of the game but returned later in the game.

AWFUL FIRST HALF
Saint John forgot there was game for the first half of last night’s tilt. Head coach Gerard Gallant, who has been cool and calm for most of the year, had some harsh words for his team in the Telegraph-Journal.

"We weren't too good at all, it was brutal, actually,'' the bench boss said. "It's pretty disappointing, but I guess they continued the skills competition (held Monday night).''

The skills competition would have helped Yann Sauve and his 97-mph slap shot as he took two minor penalties last night.

"We tried to do too much,'' Gallant said, referring in part to the countless times Saint John players tried to beat Titan defenders one-on-one. "There was no effort in the first period especially. Bathurst played the trap pretty good, but there was just no work ethic from our team tonight. Fortunately, we woke up in the second half (of the game).''

David Gilbert gave the Titan the lead going into the second period. Finally, at 14:00 of the middle frame, Stanislav Galiev tied the affair on a big shot from the point. The Sea Dogs hits some bumps after that but cruised most of the way to victory.

SUPER TEAMS
Whatever the Sea Dogs have done with their special teams in the second half, it’s working very well.

Saint John went 3/5 on the power play and kept the Titan scoreless on six of their own man advantages.

"We have to have good special teams going into the playoffs,” said Michael Kirkpatrick. “Tonight was a good example of our special teams (being good) and that's pretty much how we won the game.''

In four games against Bathurst at home this year, Saint John’s power play is working at 42.9%.

BRING OUT THE BROOMS
For the first time ever, the Sea Dogs swept their season series against Bathurst. Saint John goes a perfect 8-0-0-0 this year with all games being won in regulation time with the exception of a shootout win in the season opener.

Saint John didn’t just sweep away the Titan, they destroyed them. The Sea Dogs outscored them 47-19 in eight games. In the four matches at Harbour Station, Bathurst was outscored 27-6.

CANADIAN PRESS RECAP
Sea Dogs 5 Titan 1

At Saint John, N.B., Marco Cousineau made 24 saves as the Sea Dogs topped Acadie-Bathurst.

Nicholas Petersen, Mike Hoffman, Tomas Jurco, Stanislav Galiev and Michael Kirkpatrick each had a goal and an assist for Saint John (45-8-1).

David Gilbert had the only goal for the Titan (20-31-6).

OUT OF TOWN
It was wild night in the QMJHL. Elsewhere it was: PEI 4 Halifax 5 (SO); Victoriaville 13 Baie-Comeau 3; and Lewiston 5 Moncton 4.

With Moncton’s shocking loss in Lewiston last night, the Wildcats are 14 points back for the division title with 14 games remaining.

WHERE WAS ROSZELL?
We don’t know where he was last weekend, but we do know he wasn’t on vacation.

The Sea Dogs play-by-play man on News 88.9 thanked everyone after “a trying time for my family.” Just about everything that could wrong did on the weekend, with parts of Friday’s and Saturday’s broadcast being blacked on air.

SEADOGSTV HIGHLIGHTS


QUICK HITS
Tomas Jurco joined the 20 goal club… it was two years ago yesterday that Saint John clinched their first ever playoff spot on national television in Drummondville… Mike Hoffman extended his point streak to 13 games. Stanislav Galiev extended his to 10 games, Jurco improved his to nine games, Nicholas Petersen’s hit seven games, and Michael Kirkpatrick extended his to six… Saint John won their sixth straight game which is the longest active streak at the moment… the Sea Dogs are now 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 games… Saint John picked up a franchise record 91st point with the win. The previous high as in 2007-08 when they got 89 points in 70 games… Tim Roszell didn’t know what to say when Zach Phillips was stopped on a breakaway… say what you want about this game, but a crowd of 3,308 on a Wednesday night to watch the best team in the country is unacceptable.

NEXT GAME
Up next for Saint John is a Friday night showdown with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles at Harbour Station. The puck drops at 7:30pm as the Sea Dogs look to record their seventh straight win and move one step closer to earning the first division title in franchise history. Tickets to this contest are available by calling the arena box office at (506) 657-1234 or by visiting http://www.tickets.harbourstation.ca/.