The Sea Dogs were up 2-0 and 3-1 at times but could not hang on, losing a back-and-forth affair to their provincial rivals at Harbour Station. The victory was Bathurst's sixth straight and moves them into a tie for first place in the Maritimes Division with the Halifax Mooseheads.
Like the last meeting between the two, the Titan got off to a slow start. This time they fell down 2-0 and then 3-1, but slowly climbed back. Bathurst tied the game at 4-4 late in the second and then took their first lead of the night with 32 seconds remaining. They would never trail again.
Antoine Morand scored twice for Bathurst while singles came from Olivier Galipeau, Adam Holwell, Jeffrey Truchon-Viel and Mitchell Balmas. Joseph Murdaca made 28 stops in the win.
Cole Reginato, Anthony Boucher, Nathan Larose and William Poirier scored for Saint John. Matthew Williams made 28 stops in 40 minutes of action. Tommy DaSilva played the third period, making 15 saves.
Reginato opened the scoring at 16:13 of the first. The overage forward powered through the Bathurst defence in the slot and then shovelled the puck past Murdaca, giving Saint John a 1-0 lead.
Saint John grabbed a 2-0 lead at 19:21 when Boucher scored his 15th of the season. For the second straight meeting, the Titan were off to a sluggish start.
Galipeau got Bathurst on the board 50 seconds into the second. The offensive defenceman accepted a cross ice pass and quickly fired a shot past Williams, cutting Saint John's lead to 2-1.
Larose restored Saint John's two-goal lead at 4:01. After taking a pass from Ben Reid, Larose went in alone but was stopped by Murdaca. The Sea Dogs defenceman grabbed his own rebound and beat the Titan netminder on his second opportunity, putting Saint John up 3-1.
The Titan got back within one on a power play at 8:35. After Williams was unable to cover the puck, Morand found it and roofed it over a down Sea Dogs 'tender.
Bathurst tied the game with 8:32 remaining in the middle frame. Morand found Howell in the slot who ripped a one-time wrist shot past the blocker of Williams. The goal was reviewed as the play at the line was quite close, but it was ruled to be good.
Saint John jumped back in front at 16:14. Radim Salda passed the puck into the crease area where Poirier put it past Murdaca, making it 4-3 Sea Dogs.
The Titan tied it back up 37 seconds later. Williams made the initial stop but Morand was in front to put in the rebound, making it 4-4. Then at 19:28, Bathurst took their first lead of the game when Truchon-Viel beat Williams with a wraparound, putting the Titan up 5-4.
DaSilva started the third period in net for Saint John. At 7:10, Balmas scored his 39th goal of the season following a scramble in the crease. That made it 6-4 in favour of the Titan.
Saint John pulled DaSilva late but could not add another goal.
LINEUP
SCRATCHESHere is tonight's lineup for your #SJSeaDogs brought to you by @CantrburyDental #AlwaysWearYourMouthGuard pic.twitter.com/W9mvqy07Wk— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) March 9, 2018
The Sea Dogs were without forwards Yohan Plamondon (upper body), Matt Green (upper body), Landon Quinney (upper body) and Nicholas Deakin-Poot (upper body); defenceman Tyler Hungerbuhler (healthy); and goaltender Alex D'Orio (healthy),
NOTES
Tommy DaSilva acted as Matthew Williams' backup for this game until the third period. It was DaSilva's second career QMJHL appearance. Williams was not on Saint John's bench in the third... Brendan O'Reilly played in his first game since Feb. 7... Saint John scored first in a game for just the 18th time this season... the Sea Dogs led after the first period for just the 12th time this season... Nathan Larose has three goals in his past four games... Saint John didn't take a penalty until the second period. They took six straight penalties from there... Radim Salda recorded his first point since Feb. 25. He had been held pointless in four straight games... Alexis Girard had two assists... the Titan won eight of the nine meetings with the Sea Dogs this season.
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats tomorrow night in the team's final home game.
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