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| Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs |
Leighton Carruthers, Charles Savoie, Charlie DesRoches and Kale McCallum all scored for Saint John in a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at the KC Irving Regional Centre. Nicholas Girouard added two assists.
It was a much better performance by the Sea Dogs after an ugly 6-2 home loss to the Moncton Wildcats on Wednesday. The first half of the game was a little rocky with the teams trading goals but, as the game went along, the Sea Dogs seemed to settle in and controlled the game from the halfway point of the second period onward.
McCallum gave the Sea Dogs their first lead of the night at 9:04 of the third period. The Sea Dogs did a great job defensively the rest of the game, keeping things simple. That defensive work included killing off a Titan power play - one where the Dogs did not allow a shot on goal. Bathurst had just six shots in the third period.
Saint John has been proving the past few games that it's offense is more than just one line. The top trio of Ryan Francis, Peter Reynolds and Vladislav Kotkov was held off the scoring sheet entirely on Friday. It's good to see scoring coming from places throughout the lineup.
Zachary Emond made 28 stops in the win.
Bennett MacArthur scored twice for Bathurst while David Doucet added a single. Jan Bednar made 37 stops in the loss.
An eventful first period got off to a busy start. At 2:12, MacArthur was wide open and fired a quick shot past Emond to open the scoring. Just over two minutes later, Carruthers carried the puck out of his own end, crossed the neutral zone and fired a wrister from the top of the circle that beat Bednar to tie things at 1-1.
Bathurst responded at 8:55 on a power play. MacArthur was at the bottom of the circle and beat Emond over the glove, giving the Titan a 2-1 lead.
Savoie tied the game at 13:28 on a play that started when Girouard got the puck loose in a battle along the wall. Savoie picked it up, skated behind the goal line and banked the puck of Bednar's back and in.
Bathurst retook the lead at 15:01. Doucet fired a shot from the point that went through a ton of traffic and in, giving the Titan a 3-2 advantage entering the middle frame.
DesRoches tied the game again at 14:14 of the second. On a power play, Brady Burns fired a cross ice feed to a wide open DesRoches who then ripped the puck past the Titan 'tender.
The Titan were pressuring in the early parts of the third but it would be the Sea Dogs scoring. At 9:04, Zachary Alchorn fired a shot that produced a juicy rebound. McCallum was skating in hard and directed the puck past Bednar to give the Sea Dogs their first lead of the night.
LINEUP
Francis - Reynolds - Kotkov
Leonard - MacDonald - Bezeau
Girouard - Savoie - Alchorn
Carruthers - Lawrence - Burns
Casey - DesRoches
McCallum - Inniss
Poirier - Villeneuve
Emond
Patenaude
SCRATCHES: Forwards Simon Hughes (healthy) and Carter McCluskey (healthy); along with defensemen Nathan Drapeau (injured), Hunter Gartley (injury) and Jan Hampl (not arrived). Drapeau, who has been paired with Christopher Inniss for most of the season, missed his first game of the year.
MOVES: There were a few lineup changes for Saint John. Charles Savoie and Zachary Alchorn moved up to the second line with Nicholas Girouard while Josh Lawrence and Brady Burns moved down with Leighton Carruthers. Charlie DesRoches drew back in and joined Brendan Casey on the blue line.
LINE NAME: Personally, I like it.
Getting ready for another call of @SJSeaDogs and @ABTitan on 93 CFBC. Was thinking on my way to the rink about a name for Dogs new line of Francis/Kotkov and Reynolds. How bout first letter from 1st name. The “PVR” Line. Let know what ya think. pic.twitter.com/Jf7MW09MTB
— Gerry Green (@GGreenMachine) March 19, 2021
QUIET NIGHT: Speaking of that top line, it was a quiet night for the trio compared to what we've seen over the past week-and-a-half. All three were held off the scoresheet, something we haven't seen since that line was put together. Vladislav Kotkov has now been held pointless in back-to-back games; Ryan Francis had a nine-game point streak come to an end; and Peter Reynolds had a three-game goal streak end. The three did combine for 12 shots on goal.
END-TO-END: Quite an effort from Leighton Carruthers on this first period goal.
🚨GOAL🚨
— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) March 19, 2021
Carruthers goes end-to-end and fires a laser! 1-1 pic.twitter.com/hzbObnNZmv
SCARY: Bit of a scary moment midway through the first when Vladislav Kotkov went down in the slot. Rogers TV's replay showed that a Titan player's skate came up and hit the Dogs forward in the face. Other than what looked like a cut lip and a small nosebleed, the big man was fine.
SCORING MACHINE: Bathurst's Bennett MacArthur has really enjoyed the restart. In four games in the "second half," MacArthur now has seven goals. That includes a two-goal game tonight a four-goal game last week in Moncton.
ROAD WOES NO MORE?: After starting the season with seven straight road losses, the Sea Dogs have won three straight away from home. They are now 3-4-2-1 away from TD Station.
NOTES: This was the third meeting between the Sea Dogs and Titan in the past 10 days... Zachary Emond made his third straight start... the Titan jammed in a rebound near the halfway point of the second period but the whistle had gone well before the puck crossed the line... Leighton Carruthers had one of his better games. Along with scoring, he drew a penalty in the second period; recorded two shots; and was a physical presence... Kale McCallum's goal was his first since opening night... the attendance was 1,148. It was the second largest crowd of the season at the KC Irving Regional Centre... the Sea Dogs and Titan meet again next Saturday in Saint John.
NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats on Sunday at 3 p.m.
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