Game Day 31: at Bathurst

BATHURST - The Acadie-Bathurst Titan have become a real problem for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

After winning the first three meetings of the restart, the Sea Dogs have now lost four straight games to the Titan. A few of those four games were not particularly close.

Acadie-Bathurst 7 @ Saint John 4 (Apr 8 2021)

Acadie-Bathurst 6 @ Saint John 3 (Apr 4 2021)

Saint John 2 @ Acadie-Bathurst 4 (Apr 1 2021)

Acadie-Bathurst 8 @ Saint John 2 (Mar 27 2021)

The bigger problem is that the Sea Dogs seemed destined to play the Titan in the opening round of the Maritimes Division playoffs. So... figuring out how to beat Bathurst is key for Saint John. These two meet again on Friday night at TD Station for possibly the final time this regular season.

Game time tonight at the KC Irving Regional Centre is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV (some areas?)/93 CFBC/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs are 14-12-3-1 for a .533 points percentage (third Maritimes) while the Titan are 18-9-1-1 for a .655 points percentage (second Maritimes).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-3 loss in Moncton on Sunday. Cam MacDonald scored a pair for Saint John while Zachary Alchorn added a solo marker. Zachary Emond made 25 saves in the loss. The Titan are coming off a 3-2 home win over the Wildcats on Friday. Julien Bourget, Bennett MacArthur and Riley Kidney had Bathurst goals. Jan Bednar made 25 saves in the win.

2020-21 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 4-5-1-0 against the Titan this season while Bathurst is 6-3-0-1 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Last Thursday at TD Station where the Titan defeated the Sea Dogs 7-4. Mathieu Desgagnes and Bennett MacArthur each scored twice for Bathurst while singles came from Cole Huckins, Logan Chisholm and Riley Kindey. Saint John had goals from Brady Burns, Zachary Alchorn, Cam MacDonald and Josh Lawrence. Chad Arsenault made 22 saves in the win. Noah Patenaude made 25 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Titan: None.

Titan to watch: Mathieu Desgagnes was named the QMJHL Player of the Week on Monday. The Titan captain has an incredible 10 goals and 10 assists in 10 games against Saint John this season.

Random stat: The Titan have the league's second best power play (29.7%) but second worst penalty kill (72.8%) while Saint John has the third best power play (25.9%) but third worst penalty kill (73.4%). Wild stuff.

Notes: Ryan Francis leads Saint John in points with 42 and assists with 29... Brady Burns has a team high 17 goals... Mathieu Desgagnes leads Bathurst in points with 45 and assists with 24... Bennett MacArthur has a Bathurst high 24 goals... Saint John is 6-6-2-1 on the road... Bathurst is 8-4-1-0 at home... Riley Kidney has points in 11 straight games... MacArthur has goals in seven straight home games.

Out of town:

Halifax at Charlottetown - 7:00 PM ADT

Next game: The Sea Dogs host the Titan on Friday at 7 p.m. at TD Station.