Galiev, Gauthier Lead Dogs Past Titan

FINAL: Bathurst 2, Saint John 6

SAINT JOHN – It didn’t take long for the Saint John Sea Dogs to become a .500 hockey team.

After dropping their first three games of the season, the Sea Dogs have since rebounded by winning a trio of consecutive games to improve their record to 3-3-0-0 on the year. Their latest victory came on Saturday night at Harbour Station when a second-half outburst pushed Saint John past the Acadie-Bathurst Titan by score of 6-2.

Stanislav Galiev and Danick Gauthier each had a pair of goals while Zack Phillips and Oliver Cooper added single markers. Tyrone Sock had three assists and Pierre Durepos two.

Mathieu Corbeil played well in net, making 26 saves to earn his second win of the season.

Bathurst had goals courtesy of Christophe Losier and Jeremie Blain. Robert Steeves allowed six goals on 27 shots.

The Titan are heading in the opposite direction of the Sea Dogs. After winning their first three games of the year, Bathurst has since dropped four straight Quebec Major Junior Hockey League contests.

Saint John opened the scoring just 2:43 into the game. Off a faceoff win, Galiev gained possession and let a shot go through some traffic. The puck beat Steeves low and gave Saint John a 1-0 lead.

Gauthier was called for charging at 8:26. At 9:59, Losier had the disc at the faceoff dot and beat Corbeil with a wrist shot to tie the game at 1-1.

Later in the period at 16:20, Blain let a point shot go that sneaked through the pads of Corbeil and across the goal line to give Bathurst a 2-1 edge.

Shots were 12-5 Titan in the opening frame.

The Sea Dogs tied the match up at 10:21 on a man advantage. Galiev was along the goal line and waeved the puck around the a defenseman and centered it to an open Phillips in the crease. He banged it in to make it a 2-2 affair.

Phillips’ eventful night continued at 13:21 as he and Jordan Murray dropped the gloves for a short scrap. That gave the Fredericton native his first career QMJHL Gordie Howe hat trick.

Saint John took the lead on another power play at 16:09. Galiev blasted one from the dot and beat Steeves to make it 3-2 Sea Dogs after 40 minutes.

Shots were 10-9 Saint John in the middle frame.

Saint John took a two-goal lead just 1:13 into the final stanza. Steeves let a rebound go that allowed Gauthier to snag the disc and backhand it into the net to make it 4-2 Saint John.

The Sea Dogs had several good chances in the moments after the goal. Cooper led a two-on-one with McKenzie Brown but had his shot padded away by Steeves. Later on, Stephen Anderson was sprung on a breakaway but was nicely poke checked by the Titan ‘tender.

Gauthier netted his second of the match at 13:07. He faked a shot in front and then skated above the crease and deposited the disc before Steeves could get over to give the Dogs a 5-2 advantage.

The Sea Dogs weren’t done there as Cooper scored his third of the year at 17:17. He wristed a hard shot on net that deflected off the bar and in to make it a 6-2 final.

Shots were 12-7 Saint John in the third.

The Sea Dogs went 2-for-4 on the power play while the Titan went 1-for-5.

Photo Credit: Marc Henwood/Station Nation