FINAL (OT): Sea Dogs 3, Titan 2
BATHURST – Another game, another extra-time 3-2 win for the Saint John Sea Dogs.
The Sea Dogs needed a shootout Thursday night to defeat the Rimouski Oceanic. But on Friday, overtime proved to be enough as Jonathan Huberdeau scored 23 seconds into the extra session to give the visitors a 3-2 win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.
Steven Anthony and Zack Phillips scored in regulation for Saint John. Mathieu Corbeil, making back-to-back starts, was solid again in goal and made 22 saves to earn the victory.
It was a hard fought contest as most of the Sea Dogs – Titan battles have been this season. All four regulation goals were scored in the second period but both squads had some good scoring opportunities throughout.
Like Thursday in Rimouski, the Sea Dogs found a way to win in a close game. Saint John never led at any point until Huberdeau scored the game winner.
Jeremie Malouin and Zack O’Brien each scored in regulation for Bathurst. All-star goaltender Olivier Roy was terrific in net, making 36 stops en route to first star honours.
It was the final meeting of the regular season between the two teams. Saint John took the season series with a 6-2-0-0 record.
FIRST PERIOD
Eric Gelinas created the first solid scoring chance as he was stopped by Titan netminder Olivier Roy but the rebound went to Alexandre Beauregard who was then also stopped.
Saint John went to the power play as very-often-penalized Garrett Clarke was sent to the box for cross checking at 2:39. The Sea Dogs had a few good shots and applied some pressure but could not open the scoring.
With the penalty over, Steven Anthony let a big shot go that missed the net and sailed high and wide. Then, Tomas Jurco and Anthony were in close but were both stopped by Roy.
The Sea Dogs went to another man advantage at 7:13 but once again could not score nor could they apply the same pressure they did in the first one.
Bathurst started to then turn things on with the penalties over. Yoan Pinette was down low with the puck but couldn’t get a shot to go on net. Sebastien Payette had another good opportunity for the Titan but could not beat Saint John netminder Mathieu Corbeil.
After the Sea Dogs’ Michael Kirkpatrick was stopped by Roy in the crease area, Gabriel Levesque and the Titan entered the zone on a two-on-one. Levesque made a nice toe drag to centre himself in front of the net but sent a weak dribbler just wide of the net.
Jonathan Lessard had another great chance for the Titan moments later but was stopped nicely by Corbeil. After Kirkpatrick was denied again on another good chance, Lessard tried to jam the disc past Corbeil but couldn’t.
Shots in the first period were 15-12 Saint John.
SECOND PERIOD
The puck was centered for Stanislav Galiev early in the frame but he couldn’t get a shot off despite being in a ready-to-fire stance.
The Sea Dogs went back to the power play again at 1:33 as Olivier Hotte was called for hooking. But like the first two, Saint John could not score on the man advantage.
Bathurst opened the scoring at 4:34. Corbeil made a big stop on Vincent Arseneau but he could not stop Jeremie Malouin on the doorstep as he scored to give the Titan a 1-0 lead.
Shortly after at 7:37, the Dogs tied the match up. Anthony stripped Clarke of the puck and made a deke to the backhand and beat Roy to make it a 1-1 match.
Saint John turned on the pressure after the goal. Soon after Danick Gauthier was denied, Ryan Tesink was robbed by Roy. Roy then made a few big chances as the Dogs were held at bay.
The Titan went to their first power play at 10:30 as Jonathan Huberdeau was called for tripping. On the man advantage at 11:07, senior rookie Zack O’Brien found the back of the cage to give Bathurst a 2-1 lead.
At 11:53, the Dogs went back to the man advantage as Arseneau headed off. On the power play at 12:16, Phillips was at the faceoff dot and made some nice moves to get around a defenseman and then faked out Roy to make it a 2-2 tilt.
After Saint John couldn’t score on another man advantage, Losier was hauled down on a partial breakaway but no penalty was given out. At 16:23, some rough stuff broke out which gave the Titan a power play. Then, Kevin Gagne was called for tripping at 17:02 to give the Titan an even bigger power play chance. But the Dogs would hold things together and produced a good penalty kill to keep the match tied.
In the final minute and the penalties expired, Saint John had a flurry of chances but could not break the deadlock.
Shots in the middle stanza were 10-8 Saint John.
THIRD PERIOD
Nathan Beaulieu let a blast go early in the frame that missed the net. Then Bathurst had a decent chance as Jordan Murray picked up a turnover but fired wide.
The Sea Dogs went back to the man advantage at 2:56. Beaulieu was in close but sent the puck just off the glove of Roy. Saint John had some great pressure but just could not find the back of the cage.
At 6:10, Galiev was sprung on a break but as he was going towards the net he had his stick chopped out of his hands by Daniel Tanel to give the Dogs yet another power play. After Sebastien Trudeau couldn’t connect on a shorthanded chance, Phillips centered the puck for Huberdeau but was robbed again by Roy.
With the penalty over, Huberdeau was stopped again in close. As the period continued to tick down, Stephen MacAulay centered the puck from behind the net to a wide open Jason Cameron but was stopped by an alert Roy.
Saint John called a late time-out but it amounted to nothing.
Shots in the third period were 13-4 Sea Dogs.
OVERTIME
23 seconds into the extra session, Huberdeau made some toe drag move around a Titan defenseman and had Phillips on the open side waiting for a pass. But Huberdeau kept the puck and snipped one over the blocker of Roy to give Saint John the extra point.
Huberdeau’s goal was the only shot in overtime.
NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs are in Cape Breton Sunday to take on the Screaming Eagles at 2:00 pm.
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