Recap: Sea Dogs win 4-1

FINAL: Saint John 4, Bathurst 1

BATHURST - The Saint John Sea Dogs had the better team on paper and on the ice Tuesday at the KC Irving Regional Centre.

The Sea Dogs didn't have much trouble with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, winning their second game of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League pre-season by score of 4-1.

Returnees Jeremie Jacob, James White, Josh Lawrence and Maxim Cajkovic all scored for Saint John. Tommy DaSilva stopped all 18 shots he faced in the first half of the game. Mathias Savoie made 11 saves in the second half.

Saint John dressed a seemingly more "loaded" and experienced lineup than the Titan - especially up front. The Titan ended up outshooting the Sea Dogs 30-28, but much of those shots came on power plays, which the home side had six of.

Sea Dogs killer Cole Rafuse, who had seven goals and five assists in nine games against Saint John last season, scored the Titan's lone goal. Tyriq Outen made 14 saves in the first two periods. Matthew Dunsmoor stopped all 10 shots he faced in the third.

LINEUP

Back in (pre-season) action tonight to take on the @ABTitan at 7PM.

Tonight's roster:

JAMES WHITE
NICOLAS GUAY
JOSH LAWRENCE
BRADY BURNS
NICK DEAKIN-POOT
MAXIM CAJKOVIC
CARSON GALLANT
AIDEN MACINTOSH
JEREMY JACOB
CHARLES SAVOIE
BEN BADALEMENTI
JULIEN VANDER VOET
JEREMIE POIRIER pic.twitter.com/Kq1ZcbQSmg

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) August 20, 2019

CHARLIE DESROCHES
JOONA LEHMUS
NICOLAS KAKOURAS
JORDAN SPADAFORE
ELLIOTT ST. PIERRE
TOMMY DA SILVA
MATHIAS SAVOIE

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) August 20, 2019

Here's the line combos and pairings Saint John went with:

These appear to be the Sea Dogs lines and combos

White - Lawrence - Guay
Cajkovic - Burns - Deakin-Poot
Gallant - Jacob - MacIntosh
Savoie - Vandervoet - Badalamenti

Poirier - DesRoches
Kakouras - Lehmus
Spadafore - St. Pierre

DaSilva
Savoie

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) August 20, 2019

GOALIE THOUGHTS: The goaltending situation is one of the more interesting questions the Sea Dogs have at training camp. Zachary Bouthillier is presumably the starter, but who will get the backup position is the question. Returning netminder Tommy DaSilva, who has certainly had his struggles in the Q, was solid in the first half of the game but wasn't tested much.

STRONG FIRST: Saint John's strong first period gave them the momentum for most of the game. The top line of James White, Josh Lawrence and Nicholas Guay was good on puck possession and the pairing of Jeremie Poirier and Charlie DesRoches help keep the offence going steady as well.

NOTES: Elliot St. Pierre and Cole Rafuse dropped the gloves late in the first period but neither got any punches off... St. Pierre was quite physical throughout the game... former Sea Dogs defenseman Ian Smallwood was used as a right winger in this game... Nicholas Deakin-Poot had an eventful game in the penalty box, picking up eight minutes in penalties... the game was free to attend. Attendance was 605.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs take on the Halifax Mooseheads at Dartmouth's RBC Centre on Thursday night at 7 p.m.