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Sunday, January 26, 2014

RECAP: Goose Egg. Dogs Win 4-0.

FINAL: Bathurst 0, Saint John 4

SAINT JOHN – Sebastien Auger finally got his much deserved shutout on Sunday afternoon.

Auger made 32 saves in the Saint John Sea Dogs’ 4-0 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at Harbour Station. This less than 24 hours after Auger made 49 saves in a 4-1 loss to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

The Sea Dogs goaltender has come close to getting a shutout several times this season but could never close the deal. There is probably no goalie in the league that deserved one more. It’s just the third shutout of Auger’s career with the previous two coming in the 2011-12 campaign.

It was a fairly solid game for the Sea Dogs who snapped a two-game losing streak. Oliver Cooper had two goals while Nicolas Hebert and Matthew Highmore added singles. Thomas Chabot and Spencer Smallman each had two assists.

The Titan, meanwhile, have now lost six straight games and have been shutout in three straight. These are struggling times in Bathurst. Jacob Brennan made 26 saves in today’s loss.

FIRST PERIOD
Saint John got an early power play as Guillaume Brisebois was sent off for tripping 32 seconds in. The Dogs had some good puck possession but no good chances.

The Titan went to the man advantage at 5:43. Bathurst’s best chance came when the puck was loose in front but Raphael Lafontaine fired it wide of the net.

Back at even strength, Jurij Repe let a slap shot go that was redirected, forcing Titan goaltender Jacob Brennan to make a nice stop.

Oliver Cooper took a tripping penalty at 9:48 and then Matthew Highmore was sent off for high sticking at 11:13. Once again, the league’s worst power play had lots of puck possession time but very few shots on net.

Saint John went back to the power play at 15:40. Nine seconds into it, Highmore finished off some nice passing to make it 1-0 Dogs.
Late in the period, Mathieu Joseph had an open net but Brennan was able to get a piece of it.

Shots were 11-8 Sea Dogs in the first.

SECOND PERIOD
Early in the second, Nathan Noel created some space for himself and then centered the puck for Marcus Cuomo but he couldn’t get a great shot off. Soon after, Alexandros Soumakis had a couple of good chances but Sebastien Auger made the stops.

Later, Thomas Chabot continued his solid play as he centered the puck for Cooper but he couldn’t get a shot off. Then Will Thompson put a big hit on Nicholas Blanchard.

After a few minutes of whatever, Nicholas Hebert fed Joseph who directed the puck on net but was denied.

Bathurst went to the power play at 15:25 as Kelly Bent took the only penalty of the period. But, once again, the Titan power play couldn’t get much going.

At 18:52, on a delayed penalty against the Titan, Joseph sent a perfect pass over the Hebert who beat Brennan to make it 2-0 Saint John.
Shots were 12-7 in favour of the Titan in the second.

THIRD PERIOD
Saint John went to the power play at 3:10. On that man advantage, Spencer Smallman made a nice pass to Cooper at the top of the crease but was denied by Brennan.

The Dogs went to another power play at 5:33 as former Dog Scott Oke headed off for slashing. While shorthand, Soumakis nearly had a break but Olivier LeBlanc made a nice play to stop the threat. At 7:21, Smallman moved around a couple Titan defensemen and then sent a perfect short pass to Cooper in front who would make it 3-0.
Joseph had another good chance a few minutes later but Gabriel Gosselin blocked his shot. Matthew Boudreau then had one of Bathurst’s few good scoring chances in the period but was robbed by the glove of Auger.

The Titan had too many men on the ice at 16:47 to send the Dogs to another power play. At 18:09, Cooper tipped in a Thompson point shot to make it 4-0.
Shots in the third were 12-12 and 32-30 Titan overall.

Saint John went an impressive 3-for-5 on the power play while Bathurst went 0-for-4.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs begin a Quebec road trip in Shawinigan on Wednesday.
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