RECAP: Sea Dogs Win 8-3

FINAL: Bathurst 3, Saint John 8

SAINT JOHN – Adam Marsh is heating up at the perfect time for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

With a hat trick in Saint John’s 8-3 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Thursday night at Harbour Station, Marsh now has five goals over his past three games. It’s great timing for a team that has struggled to score at times this year.

Marsh also had an assist in Saint John’s third straight victory. Joe Veleno and Mathieu Joseph each had a goal and two assists. Solo markers came from Nathan Noel, Matthew Highmore and Daniel Del Paggio. Thomas Chabot added three assists.

Overlooked in Saint John’s offensive explosion is goaltender Alex Bishop. After a rocky start to the season, the second-year netminder has wins in back-to-back games thanks to a 29-save performance in this one.

The Titan didn’t make it easy, even leading at one point in the second period. But Bathurst’s defense, along with goaltender Reilly Pickard, couldn’t stop the wave of Sea Dogs goals that came in the second half of the game. Antoine Morand, the player picked after Veleno at this year’s QMJHL Entry Draft, had two goals while Daniil Miromanov added a single.

After failing to convert on their first man advantage opportunity of the game, the Sea Dogs were awarded a 42 second five-on-three power play at 17:30. Head coach Danny Flynn then took what proved to be an effective time out as Marsh scored at 18:03 to make it 1-0 Saint John.

It was fairly solid period by the Dogs until the final seconds of the frame. With 2.7 seconds remaining, Miromanov beat Bishop to make it a 1-1 game.

Saint John retook the lead at 5:01 of the second when Noel beat Pickard with a wrist shot from the slot. A little over three minutes later, Morand scored his first and then scored again at 10:18, giving Bathurst a 3-2 lead. 15 seconds later, Chabot fed Highmore who ripped one past Pickard to tie things at 3-3.

At 12:06, Saint John retook the lead thanks to Veleno’s shorthanded goal. The exceptional player was buzzing after the marker. Then at 15:22 and while shorthanded again, Joseph stole the puck from Pickard behind the night and scored to make it 5-3 Sea Dogs. Saint John then took a 6-3 advantage at 17:21 when Marsh made a centering pass that went off a Titan defender and in.

Del Paggio got the scoring going in the third period when he connected at 6:05 – thanks to a nice feed from Veleno. Then with 21 seconds left Marsh completed the hat trick to make it an 8-3 final.

STATS

NOTES

• Forwards Samuel Dove-McFalls (knee) and Dawson Theede along with defensemen Oliver Felixson (upper body) and Bailey Webster (upper body) did not play for Saint John.
• According to Tim Roszell on the 96.1 NewSong FM pre-game show, Webster is considered to be day-to-day while Felixson is expected to miss the next few games.
• Luke Green returned after serving a three-game suspension. Jason Bell also returned to his usual spot on the backend after starting Sunday’s game up front.
• Forward Kyle Ward played in his first game since Sept. 19, a game that saw him suffer a hand injury.
• Sea Dogs equipment manager David Kelly worked his 700^th consecutive regular season game. He is the Cal Ripkin Jr. of equipment managers. This was also Saint John’s 700^th regular season game.
• Nathan Noel has goals in back-to-back games. He has two goals in total this season.
• Joe Veleno’s second period goal was his first since opening night. The 15-year-old finished the night with a career high three points.
• Adam Marsh’s hat trick was the second of his QMJHL career.
• With a goal and two assists tonight, Mathieu Joseph has two goals and five assists in his past four games.
• Defenseman Austin Clapham was injured in the final minute of the third period.
• The Titan have now lost seven straight road games.

TURNING POINT

Saint John’s second period shorthanded goals – which came just over three minutes apart – gave the Sea Dogs back the lead they had lost.

SN THREE STARS

1. Mathieu Joseph

2. Adam Marsh

3. Joe Veleno

TWEET OF THE GAME

15 year old Joseph Veleno looking "exceptional" for the Saint John Sea Dogs tonight. Thomas Chabot-OTT having pretty strong game too.

— Corey Pronman (@coreypronman) October 23, 2015

NEXT GAME 
The Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Harbour Station. It’s “Hockey Day in Saint John.”

Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation