RECAP: That Happened. Dogs Lose 1-0.

FINAL: Bathurst 1, Saint John 0

SAINT JOHN – This was very much a Tuesday night game.

The Saint John Sea Dogs looked flat as they were shutout by the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, 1-0, in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at Harbour Station.

Played in front of one of the smallest Sea Dogs home crowds ever, Saint John was unable to create many good scoring opportunities in the defeat. They were outshot 45-29 overall, including 31-16 in the first 40 minutes. 16 of the Sea Dogs’ 29 shots were considered to be dangerous. Saint John's power play, still without Michael Abbott, struggled and went 0-for-7.

Aaron Kerr scored his first QMJHL goal on a power play in the first period and that proved to be the only goal of the match. Jacob Brennan stopped all 29 shots he faced as the Titan ended a four-game losing skid.

Sebastien Auger was Sebastien Auger in net and gave the Dogs a good chance to win this game, stopping 44 shots. But the Sea Dogs were unable to keep the momentum going from Saturday’s win over Charlottetown and now enter a stretch of five straight games away from Harbour Station with… whatever this was tonight.

FIRST PERIOD

It was all Titan early in this game as Bathurst was outshooting Saint John 5-0 five minutes into the game. The Sea Dogs went to a power play at 2:49 and couldn’t even get a shot during that. It wasn’t until around six minutes in that the Dogs finally got a shot on Titan netminder Jacob Brennan.

Bathurst went to the power play at 8:23 as Jeremy Doucet was called for holding. The Titan were throwing the puck around okay and had a couple of shots but nothing serious.

After several minutes of nothing, Alexander McQuaid took a hooking penalty at 14:00. At 15:01, Aaron Kerr was able to enter the zone by getting around Olivier LeBlanc. Kerr cut in on Sebastien Auger and beat the goaltender upstairs, glove side to make it 1-0 Bathurst.

At 16:40, Gabriel Gosselin was given five and a game for an ugly looking boarding incident involving Spencer Smallman. Smallman was attended to by Sea Dogs athletic therapist JP Laciak but skated to the dressing room on his own. He would not return.

Marcus Cuomo also got a roughing penalty on the play so the Dogs had to wait to get the man advantage. Then at 17:34 Francois Godin took a holding penalty to send Saint John to an eventual five-on-three power play. The Dogs had some good pressure on and a couple good chances but could not score.

Shots were 15-8 Bathurst.

SECOND PERIOD

The Sea Dogs couldn’t get much going on the power play that carried over into the second.

Bathurst went to the power play at 1:55. The Titan once again had some good pressure on but no great chances. Back at even strength, Auger made a nice stop on a point shot that was redirected.

Then the penalties started rolling. The Dogs had another man advantage at 8:56 but that ended early at 10:27 when the Dogs were caught with too many men. Then at 11:23 Patrick Walsh went to the box to create some more four-on-four play. Some stuff happened during this span but I forgot to write it down so… you’re welcome.

Back at even strength, Marcus Cuomo swung the puck in front of the crease but nobody was there to bang it in.

Late in the period, Bathurst had a few quality chances. Joel Blanchard was in front but was robbed by the glove of Auger.

With three seconds left in the period, Jason Cameron was called for holding so the Titan would start the third on a man advantage.

Shots were 16-8 in favour of Bathurst in the second.

THIRD PERIOD

During the Titan power play that carried over, Stephen Anderson had a great shorthand chance but was stopped. Noah Zilbert also had a chance on the rebound but was denied as well.

A little later on, Alexandros Soumakis had a solid scoring opportunity was but was stopped by Auger.

The Titan went to the power play at 11:03 when Thomas Chabot was called for holding. Bathurst, once again, was moving the puck well and all that good stuff but could not score.

McQuaid and Joey Bernard dropped the gloves for a spirited tilt at 13:57. On the same stoppage, Anthony Gingras was given a holding penalty to send Saint John to the power play. Despite getting a few good chances, Brennan stopped them all and kept Bathurst in the lead.

With Auger pulled, Guillaume Brisebois flipped the puck out of play to send to the Dogs to the power play with 49 seconds left. The Dogs had some pressure on and a couple of decent chances but could not score. That was all she wrote.

Shots in the third were 14-13 in favour of the Titan.

Saint John went 0-for-7 on the power play while Bathurst went 1-for-6.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs are in Moncton to take on the Wildcats on Thursday night.