RECAP: The Streak Is Over. Dogs Win 6-4.

FINAL: Saint John 6, Bathurst 4

By Tim Lumsden

SN Staff

The Sea Dogs braved the impending storm to travel to what was expected to become the Great White North, a.k.a. Bathurst, to take on the Titan on Friday night.

Alex Fournier dusted off the skates to take the net for Saint John. Mason McDonald defended the net for The Titan. Jacob Brennan would later come in to take over from McDonald.

FIRST PERIOD

The first half of the period was pretty uneventful as both teams took the time to scout each other out.

Olivier Houle took the first penalty of the game. He was sent off for boarding at 12:59.

Cross checking was the next penalty, this time for Bathurst’s Anthony Gingras. His penalty came at 13:49.

Saint John seemed to have learned from their mistakes last night. Jakub Izacky scored the first goal of the game with assists going to Durepos and Abbott at 14:11.

Just 22 seconds later, at 14:33, Maxime Villemaire put the Dogs’ second point up on the board. Izacky and Durepos picked up the assists. Within 23 seconds, Saint John went from 0-0 to leading 2-0.

Shots were 13-9 Titan in the first.

SECOND PERIOD

Andreas Tsogkas kicked it into high gear and kicked the second period into overdrive as he started off with a goal at 1:31. His goal was an unassisted one, bringing the Dogs up 3-0. It was Tsogkas’ first QMJHL goal.

The clouds parted slightly for the Titan as Zach O’Brien scored the first Bathurst goal of the night at 5:08. That made it 3-1.

Bathurst may have been getting a little rattled as Andrew Meredith took a five-minute charging penalty at 6:47, running over Fournier in the Saint John net. He also received a game misconduct.

Zach O’Brien once again put one past Fournier at 7:47, this time while shorthanded. This closed the gap 3-2, with Saint John barely holding onto the lead.

Oliver Cooper and Olivier Houle did a little dancing out on the ice. This resulted in both being sent to the box for roughing at 8:34. Ian Saab picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct on the same play.

Sean Girard was sent for some time out at 13:10 with a tripping call.

Spencer Smallman added another goal to Saint John’s score at 15:01. Weckworth and Durepos grabbed the assists. That restored the Sea Dogs’ two-goal lead, making it 4-2.

Jason Cameron and Sean Girard then got a little too close for comfort for the refs. They were sent to the penalty box to serve roughing penalties, but it would have to wait until the third period as the call came at 20:00.

Shots in the middle frame were 17-14 Bathurst.

THIRD PERIOD

Oliver Cooper started the period off at 6:00 with a holding penalty. As a result, Sean Girard scored Bathurst’s third goal.

Anthony Gringras scored soon after at 7:42 to bring the game to a tie score of 4-4.

Saint John pushed ahead 5-4 Stephen Anderson connected at 8:11.

Patrick Walsh headed off to the box at 10:20 to serve an interference penalty. This gave Maxime Villemaire the chance to score the 6th Sea Dog goal of the game at 11:23. This time Durepos and Abbott snagged assists.

At 13:56, Patrick Walsh returned once again to the box, this time for cross checking.

Maxime Villemaire headed off to the box at 19:01 after taking a holding penalty and sending Bathurst to the power play. But that power play was wiped out when Michael Beaudry was shipped off at 19:28 for unsportsmanlike conduct, ending any chance of a late Titan comeback.

The Sea Dogs would leave Bathurst victorious with a final score of 6-4, ending their seven-game losing streak. Total shots on goal for the game were 47-36 in favour of Bathurst.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs return to Harbour Station on Sunday to take on the Rimouski Oceanic. The puck drops at 3pm.