RECAP: Sea Dogs lose 5-3

FINAL: Saint John 3, Bathurst 5

BATHURST - The Saint John Sea Dogs ended their streak of one-goal loses on Wednesday night - but the overall losing skid continues.

The Sea Dogs lost their eighth straight contest in front of a sparse KC Irving Regional Centre crowd on Wednesday, falling 5-3 to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Saint John has not won a game since a 4-0 win in Charlottetown on Oct. 6.

Just like most of the loses during this streak, Saint John was in this game until the end. The Sea Dogs exploded for three goals in just over five minutes late in the second period, giving the team a 3-2 advantage. Jordan Maher tied things up with a goal in the final minute of the second and Samuel L'Italien netted what proved to be the game-winner at 6:26 of the third.

The Sea Dogs had a power play late in the third, but an offensive zone penalty ended the man advantage early. L'Italien netted an insurance marker with 26 seconds remaining, giving the Titan a 5-3 victory.

Saint John outshot Bathurst 30-24 - numbers that were helped by seven Saint John power play opportunities. The Sea Dogs were able to score just one time on the man advantage on Wednesday.

The loss pushes the Sea Dogs closer to the team record for consecutive loses, which is 11 (and has been done twice).

Joe Veleno, Anthony Boucher and Robbie Burt scored for Saint John on Wednesday. Alex D'Orio made 19 stops in the loss.

Samuel L'Italien scored twice for Bathurst while singles came from Ethan Crossman, Antoine Morand and Jordan Maher. Reilly Pickard made 27 saves in the win.

LINEUP

Here is tonight's lineup for your Sea Dogs brought to you by @CantrburyDental #AlwaysWearYourMouthGuard pic.twitter.com/soDBVbe78P

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) October 25, 2017

SCRATCHES

The Sea Dogs were without defenceman Samuel Duchesne; and forwards Isiah Campbell, Kevin Gursoy, William Poirier and Ben Reid. All were healthy scratches.

NOTES

Joe Veleno netted his second goal of the season... Ostap Safin had two assists... Burt and Liam Murphy had quite a fight in the second period... Bathurst improved to an impressive 5-1-1-1 at home this season... Noah Dobson had two assists... Saint John mixed up their line combinations again. Josh Dixon seems to like giving the combos a couple games, so it'll be interesting to see if they remain the same on Saturday.

Longest losing streaks in #SJSeaDogs history pic.twitter.com/GNUXz4BdHa

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) October 26, 2017

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs take on the Val-d'Or Foreurs on Saturday night at Harbour Station.