Recap: Sea Dogs win 5-4

FINAL: Bathurst 4, Saint John 5

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs blew a three-goal lead but still managed to edge the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Sunday afternoon at TD Station.

The Titan scored three times in the second period to tie things up at 4-4. The score would stay that way until Cole Burbidge converted at 6:21 of the third period to give the Sea Dogs a 5-4 lead - and the score would stay that way.

The victory ended a six-game home losing streak for the Sea Dogs and pushed them two points closer to the QMJHL's 16th and final playoff spot. The Titan, meanwhile, have now lost 12 straight games as their second half struggles continue. 

Jared Cosman, Eriks Mateiko, Brady Burns and Noah Reinhart also scored for Saint John. Ventsislav Shingarov was pulled in the second period after allowing three goals on 13 shots. Olivier Brideau allowed a goal on 21 shots in relief.

Markas Samenas scored twice for Bathurst while Ben Allison and Bobby Orr added singles. Joshua Fleming made 23 stops in the loss.

Saint John led 3-1 after one and took a 4-1 lead early in the second period but let Bathurst back into the game. The Titan scored three times in the middle frame and outshot the Sea Dogs 18-7.

Burbidge scored on a power play at 6:21 of the third and the goal would stand as the winner. Saint John went 1/3 on the man advantage in the victory.

LINEUP

Burns - Burbidge - Reinhart

Simek - Mateiko - Drover

Laforge - Cournoyer - Elie

Beaulieu

Tivey - DesRoches

Bilodeau - Cosman

Ianniello - Despont

Richard - Akkouche

Shingarov

Brideau

SCRATCHES: The Sea Dogs were without forwards Peter Reynolds (injury), Sam-Luca Thifault (injury), Harrison Ballard (healthy), Luka Benoit (healthy) and Nathan Casey (healthy).

CHANGES: The Sea Dogs opted to go with the rare 10 forward and eight defensemen lineup for this game. Vincent Despont returned after being a healthy scratch for the past two contests. Saint John's starting lineup also featured three defensemen (Tivey, DesRoches and Akkouche) and two forwards (Elie and Cournoyer).

PRE-GAME: Before the game, Brady Burns was honoured for becoming the Sea Dogs franchise leader in goals scored. Burns was given a stick to honour the achievement.

Some 📸s from today's pregame ceremony in honour of Brady Burns' record breaking goal!#CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/TYL6AfTeRV

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) February 12, 2023

ODD GOAL: It wasn't Ventsislav Shingarov's day. The netminder was pulled in the second period after allowing three goals on 13 shots. Bathurst's first goal, which came at 9:46 of the first period when the Sea Dogs were up 1-0, was a weird one.

We'll take it 😳

Nous allons le prendre 😳#GoTitanGo pic.twitter.com/q3kppGiBjY

— Titan Acadie-Bathurst (@ABTitan) February 12, 2023

NOTES: This was the makeup game for Saint John's home opener, which was postponed by Hurricane Fiona... the Sea Dogs wore their black third jerseys... Ventsislav Shingarov has started all six games the Sea Dogs have played against the Titan this season... Noah Reinhart had a goal and two assists... Eriks Mateiko had four shots... the game-winner was Cole Burbidge's first goal since Feb. 2.. this was Burbidge's second game-winning goal of the season... this was Saint John's first home win since Jan. 4... Saint John is now 4-2-0-0 against Bathurst this season... Ben Allison now has eight goals against Saint John this season... attendance was 4,538.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs face a big challenge on Friday when they host the Sherbrooke Phoenix at 7 p.m.