FULL RECAP
DOGS DOWN TITAN IN OT
BATHURST - The Saint John Sea Dogs pulled off another close win last night in Bathurst, defeating the Titan 3-2 in overtime in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at the KC Irving Regional Centre.
"I thought we played a hard game,'' Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant said to the Telegraph-Journal. "I was a little nervous before the game started with our energy level. It was a long day of traveling, but I thought we battled hard and competed hard. Overall, we played a good, smart game.''
For the second straight game, Jonathan Huberdeau scored the winner. The sniper registered his 40th marker of the season 23 seconds into overtime to give Saint John the extra point. Thursday in Rimouski, Huberdeau netted the shootout winner to give the Dogs a 3-2 road victory.
The first period was scoreless despite there being plenty of shots. Saint John held a 15-12 shots on goal edge after 20 minutes but both goaltenders, Mathieu Corbeil and Olivier Roy, played very well in net.
All the regulation time scoring came in the middle frame. The Titan struck first at 4:34 as Jeremie Malouin scored his eighth of the season. But the Sea Dogs would respond at 7:37 as Steven Anthony stripped Garrett Clarke of the disc and then beat Roy to make it a 1-1 affair.
Bathurst took the lead again at 11:07 on the power play as Zack O’Brien scored to give the home side a 2-1 edge. But once again, the Sea Dogs would respond thanks to some stick work by Zack Phillips on the power play, tying the match at 2-2 heading into the third period.
Saint John would have the better of the chances in the third stanza, outshooting the Titan 13-4. But despite the one-sided shots-on-goal total, the game remained tied and required overtime.
On the first shift of the extra session, Gabriel Bourret sent a long pass ahead to Huberdeau. The 17-year old patiently waited for a Titan defender to go down before snipping one top shelf blocker side on Roy to give the Dogs a 3-2 win.
THE NUMBERS
Saint John, Sea Dogs 3 (OT) at Acadie-Bathurst, Titan 2 - Status Final OT1SAINT JOHN SCRATCHES
Friday, March 11, 2011 - Centre régional K.C. Irving
Saint John 0 2 0 1 - 3
Acadie-Bathurst 0 2 0 0 - 2
1st Game Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Clarke Bat (cross-checking), 2:39; Payette Bat (tripping), 7:13.
2nd Game Period-1, Acadie-Bathurst, Malouin 8 (Arseneau, Losier), 4:34. 2, Saint John, Anthony 22 7:37. 3, Acadie-Bathurst, O'Brien 26 (Lévesque, Lessard), 11:07 (pp). 4, Saint John, Phillips 38 (Després, Beaulieu), 12:16 (pp). Penalties-Hotte Bat (tripping), 1:33; Huberdeau Snb (slashing), 10:30; Arseneau Bat (roughing), 11:53; Losier Bat (tripping), 13:04; Gauthier Snb (cross-checking), 16:23; Tesink Snb (cross-checking), 16:23; Clarke Bat (unsportmanlike conduct), 16:23; Gagné Snb (tripping), 17:02.
3rd Game Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Murray Bat (interference of a player or a goaltender), 2:56; Tanel Bat (slashing), 6:10.
1st OT Game Period-5, Saint John, Huberdeau 40 (Bourret, Gélinas), 0:23. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Saint John 39. Acadie-Bathurst 24.
Power Play Opportunities-Saint John 1 of 7; Acadie-Bathurst 1 of 3.
Goalies-Saint John, Corbeil-Thériault 18-16-1-1 (24 shots-22 saves). Acadie-Bathurst, Roy 27-13-2-0 (39 shots-36 saves).
A-2,802
Referees-Jeff Hopkins (20), Devin Piccott (53).
Linesmen-Josh DeYoung (52), John MacDonnell (76).
Forwards Aidan Kelly and Scott Oke along with defenseman Jason Seed were all healthy scratches.
HUBERDEAU GETTING CLOSER
Jonathan Huberdeau continues to get closer and closer to reaching the century mark for points in a season. After a goal and an assist performance Thursday in Rimouski, Huberdeau added a goal Friday in Bathurst to give him 99 total points on the year.
With four games left – including two against the woeful Cape Breton Screaming Eagles – Huberdeau has the time and resources to become the first Sea Dog to ever record 100 points in a season.
The Sea Dogs’ leading scorer is a long shot to win the QMJHL scoring title this season. Gatineau's Philip-Michael Devos now has 108 points and Bathurst's Gabriel Levesque, with an assist last night, has 101 points.
Jonathan Huberdeau became just the third Sea Dog in franchise history to record 40 goals in one season.
Scott Howes recorded 42 markers during the 2007-08 season while Mike Hoffman holds the team record with 46 goals scored last year.
GETTING IT DONE
This game wrapped up the season series between the Sea Dogs and Titan. With two wins over Saint John, it is safe to say that Bathurst has given the Sea Dogs the most trouble this season – especially among divisional opponents.
The Sea Dogs won the season series by winning six of the eight games. Both loses were at the KC Irving Regional Centre.
The matchup could make for an interesting playoff series.
IN THE BOX
Bathurst showed why they are the second most penalized team in the QMJHL last night. The Titan gave the Sea Dogs seven power play opportunities but, fortunately for the home team, Saint John could only connect on one of those chances.
It doesn’t help the Titan when two of their players, Garrett Clarke and Vincent Arseneau, are one and two in the league in taking minor penalties. Clarke has taken a league high 50 minor penalties this season which includes two he took last night. Arseneau has now taken 48 after serving a roughing penalty last evening.
IN THE NETS
Mathieu Corbeil made his second straight start in the Sea Dogs goal with Jacob DeSerres still sick. DeSerres did serve as Corbeil’s backup, however.
It was another strong game for Corbeil who made 22 stops for the win. He was solid Thursday in Rimouski, too. Since arriving in Saint John, the Columbus Blue Jackets prospect has continued to gradually improve with every start.
At the other end, all-star goaltender Olivier Roy was excellent in goal, making some terrific stops in the loss. He made 36 saves on the night.
GOOD CROWD
Well would you look at that, there was actually a decent crowd at the KC Irving Regional Centre for once.
2,802 was the official attendance. Only the home opener for the Titan has drawn a larger crowd. It was also only the ninth time this year that the team has had over 2,000 fans in the building. The last three games at the KCI Centre have all had over 2,000 (announced) fans.
Despite the small spike, the Titan still sit last in league attendance with an average of 1,602 fans per game.
OUT OF TOWN
Moncton 4 at Cape Breton 2
Halifax 4 at PEI 2
Victoriaville 5 at Québec 1
Drummondville 3 at Montréal 2 (OT)
Val-d'Or 3 at Chicoutimi 2 (SO)
Gatineau 6 at Lewiston 3
QUICK HITS
Saint John is now 5-1 in overtime this season. They have gone to extra time 13 times with six games being decided in OT and the other seven in a shootout… it was the Titan’s second overtime loss of the season and third extra time loss… Zack Phillips led the way in shots with seven for Saint John… Vincent Arseneau had a team high six shots for Bathurst… Alexandre Beauregard and Simon Despres each had two hits for Saint John… Arseneau had four hits for Bathurst… Huberdeau has now scored in four straight games… Despres returned to action after he was given Thursday’s game off. News 88.9 reported that it wasn’t clear if he would play or not even though he took warm-up… to relive the match, check out the SN Live Blog Replay.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- The Titan website is a joke.
- Playoffs start in less than two weeks.
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs are in Sydney to face the Screaming Eagles tomorrow afternoon. Note that the start time is 2:00 pm.
Photo Credits: Gatineau Olympiques Facebook page, David Connell Web Album
No comments:
Post a Comment