Recap: Sea Dogs lose 8-2

FINAL: Bathurst 8, Saint John 2

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

SAINT JOHN - It started sloppy and ended badly for the Saint John Sea Dogs on Saturday night.

The Sea Dogs were too casual on defense and struggled to get their offense going in a rough 8-2 loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at TD Station. Defensive errors and missed assignments were once again a problem for the Dogs who were coming off one of their better games of the season the night before.

Saint John struggled at both ends for much of Saturday's game. While the defensive struggles have happened many times before, it's rare to see the Dogs struggle to produce offensively. The team recorded just 10 shots in the first two periods combined and fell behind 4-0 early in the third period.

The Dogs were able to get rolling a bit in the third, firing 17 shots on the Titan net and getting within two goals at one point. But the third was also when the defensive game really fell off the tracks, allowing six goals and 17 shots.

Bathurst outshot Saint John 41-27 overall.

This was only Saint John's second loss since the restart. Their other loss, a 6-2 set back on home ice to the Moncton Wildcats, also came after a strong victory.

Bathurst had a pair of goals from Mathieu Desgagnes and singles from Cole Huckins, Ben Allison, Riley Kidney, Logan Chisholm, Bennett MacArthur and Jacob Melanson. Chad Arsenault, who now has three wins against the Dogs this season, made 25 stops in the win.

Charles Savoie and Vladislav Kotkov scored for Saint John. Zachary Emond made 33 stops in the loss.

LINEUP

Francis - Reynolds - Kotkov

Girouard - Lawrence - Alchorn

Savoie - MacDonald - Bezeau

McCluskey - Carruthers - Burns

Drapeau - Inniss

Poirier - Villeneuve

Casey - DesRoches

Emond

Patenaude

SCRATCHES: Forwards Simon Hughes (healthy) and Liam Leonard (suspension) along with defensemen Kale McCallum (injury), Hunter Gartley (injured) and Jan Hampl (not arrived).

TOP LINE: Saint John's top line was held pointless on Friday and had a fairly quiet night on Saturday. The trio was on the ice for Saint John's second goal, scored by Vladislav Kotkov on a power play with one of the assists going to Peter Reynolds. Ryan Francis was held pointless in back-to-back games for the first time this season. The line combined for five shots in the game but had only two in the first two periods combined. 

EMOND: Zachary Emond has now started the past two games. He also played the majority of the game prior to this run when Noah Patenaude was pulled in the first period.

ARSENAULT: Chad Arsenault entered this game with a 2-1 record against Saint John to go along with a 2.21 goals against average and a .945 save percentage. He has now allowed just nine goals in four games against the Dogs.

HUCKINS: Cole Huckins netted his first goal of the restart in the second period. Huckins, a 2021 NHL Draft eligible forward and a key part of Bathurst's offense, had seven goals in 15 games in the "first half."

STANDINGS: This loss also hurts in the standings. The Sea Dogs are trying to catch the Titan for the No. 2 spot in the Maritimes Division. Bathurst sits second with a .636 points percentage while the Dogs sit third with a .565 mark. 

NOTES: Saint John dressed the same lineup as they did Friday... the attendance of 1,567 was announced as a sell out and was the largest at TD Station this season... Liam Leonard served the second and final game of his two-game suspension... the first penalty of the game wasn't called until there was 2:41 remaining in the second period... linesman Matt McConnell either had a bloody noise or a cut on his face that required a couple visits to the Sea Dogs bench in the third period... Bennett MacArthur now has 11 goals in the month of March. He's been held goalless in just one game since the restart.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs are in Moncton on Tuesday to face the Wildcats at 7 p.m.