DOGS KEEP ON ROLLING

SN RECAP
FINAL: Sea Dogs 7, Titan 2

BATHURST – It’s been a good stretch for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

With a 7-2 win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Wednesday night at the KC Irving Regional Centre, the Sea Dogs have won six straight games and have not lost in regulation over their past 13 contests.

The Sea Dogs’ 'Bachelor Line' was once again the story in this one. Jonathan Huberdeau scored a hat trick and added an assist while Zach Phillips continued his stunning play with a solo marker and four assists. Tomas Jurco also had a helper.

Simon Despres, Steven Anthony, and Mike Thomas were the other Saint John goal getters.

Jacob DeSerres, who played poorly the last time he visited Bathurst, played very well. He made 32 saves and was deserving of the victory.

On the other end, Edmonton Oilers draft pick Olivier Roy allowed five goals on 25 shots before getting the hook during the second intermission. Robert Steeves made 10 saves in relief.

The Titan had goals from Daniel Tanel and Jonathan Lessard.

Saint John has now shown that they are very capable of beating the Titan. The Dogs carried the flow for most of the game, especially in the second period where they scored two goals in the final minute.


FIRST PERIOD
On the first shot of the game, Simon Despres beat Olivier Roy with a low wrist shot from just below the circle that gave the Sea Dogs an early 1-0 lead.

Brent Turnbull placed a good hit on Kevin Gagne behind the Sea Dogs net following the goal. Moments later, Mike Thomas entered the offensive zone but couldn’t get a shot on goal. The puck bounced to Stephen MacAulay in the slot but Roy was there to make a nice pad stop.

The Titan tied the game at 6:12 on a strange play. Zach O’Brien came down the wing and simply fired the puck glove side of Sea Dogs goaltender Jacob DeSerres. The Saint John netminder thought he had it but it become loose in the crease. The puck was cleared down the ice quickly but the officials went upstairs on the play. After a review, it was a goal, with credit given to the rarely dangerous Daniel Tanel.

The Sea Dogs went to the power play at 7:51 with Vincent Arseneau heading off. The Bachelor Line did their best to try and tie the game with Tomas Jurco hitting the side of the net following a nice pass from Zach Phillips.

At 9:26, Phillips tried a similar pass – this time to Jonathan Huberdeau – and it worked. Huberdeau had an open cage and made no mistake, making it a 2-1 Saint John lead.

After Turnbull had a good scoring chance for the Titan, Jeremie Malouin put a big hit on Jason Cameron in the corner at 11:41, giving the Dogs another power play. Saint John had some good pressure during the span but could not score.

With the penalty over, Huberdeau fed Phillips with a great pass and was all alone. Roy was there though, making a nice pad stop. In the dying seconds of the frame, Arseneau unleashed a one-timer that just went wide of the Sea Dogs cage.

Shots in the opening 20 minutes were 11-10 in favour of the Titan.

SECOND PERIOD
MacAulay had a good chance early on with Roy flopping around in his crease. Somehow, the all-star netminder got a pad on it. Then on a two-on-one, Stanislav Galiev fed Steven Anthony but missed wide.

The play then came down to the other end where Jonathan Lessard hit the crossbar. Play continued and Lessard gave Ryan Tesink a high stick, giving Saint John a power play. But Lessard’s shot was reviewed and was awarded a good goal, tying the game at 2-2.

But the penalty would stand, and on the power play at 4:12, Despres sent a shot on net and Huberdeau was parked in front to grab the rebound and make it a 3-2 Sea Dogs lead.

Gabriel Levesque had a great chance in front of DeSerres but spun his shot wide of the net. Soon after, Nathan Beaulieu ripped a point shot and forced Roy to make a nice save through traffic.

The rough stuff began at 9:59. After Gabriel Bourret put a huge hit on Arseneau, MacAulay and Jeremie Fraser dropped the gloves in a spirited tilt that saw both players land good punches. MacAulay, Danick Gauthier, and Arseneau all got tossed from the game for their display of rough stuff during the same sequence.

Out of all of this, Bourret’s initial penalty stood giving the Titan their first power play of the match. Saint John had a good shorthanded chance when Huberdeau performed a wraparound but was stopped. Then a two-on-one play was finished off by Despres but stopped by Roy. Bathurst didn’t do much of anything offensively.

Mike Thomas and Malouin received matching roughing calls at 17:18. During the four-on-four at 19:00, Phillips made some fantastic moves along the wing to keep the puck. He then fed Huberdeau with a perfect pass who embarrassed Roy with an unreal move around him to make it a 4-2 Sea Dogs lead. The goal gave Huberdeau a hat trick.

Saint John wasn’t done there. On a partial break and a Titan practically on his back, Phillips beat Roy upstairs to make it 5-2 for the visitors going into intermission.

Shots in the frame were 14-10 Saint John.

THIRD PERIOD
Robert Steeves replaced world junior hopeful Olivier Roy in net to start the third. Bathurst showed some life early on when Sebastien Trudeau was parked in front but couldn’t grab a rebound.

At 4:49, Gabriel Bourret was called for hooking. While shorthanded, Phillips and Huberdeau were back at it on an odd-man rush but couldn’t get a shot on net. The Titan power play went to work after that as Christophe Losier had a good chance but sent it wide.

With the penalty over, Saint John went to the power play at 7:33 but couldn’t get anything going. At 10:33, the Sea Dogs had yet another man advantage. This time they would cash in as a brutal turnover by the Titan defense was finished off by Steven Anthony to make it a 6-2 game.

Bathurst had another man-up chance at 14:32. Trudeau had a great opportunity on a one-time shot but DeSerres came out to challenge him nicely. Then Levesque was absolutely stoned by the Dogs netminder on a cross crease pad save.

Saint John had another power play at 16:59. On the man advantage, Thomas let a shot go in front but was stopped by Steeves. But the Sea Dogs captain found the puck again and backhanded it past the Titan backup to make it an 8-2 final.

Shots in the third were 13-12 Bathurst.

The Sea Dogs went an impressive 3/6 on the power play while the Titan went 0/3.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the #10 team in Canada/Northern United States, the Lewiston MAINEiacs, Friday at 7:30 pm.