Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Recap: Sea Dogs win 9-2

FINAL: Saint John 9, Bathurst 2
Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
BATHURST - The Saint John Sea Dogs flipped the script on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Tuesday.

After losing four straight games to the Titan the Sea Dogs delivered a statement victory at the KC Irving Regional Centre, defeating the home side 9-2.

The Sea Dogs corrected a number of problems that have plagued them of late and led them to victory:
  • Titan struggles: The Sea Dogs have had some ugly showings against Bathurst over the past couple weeks. Those issues didn't show up in this game.
  • Bad starts: The Sea Dogs scored just 2:22 into the game and controlled most of the play in the opening period.
  • Offense slowing down: Saint John looked a little lethargic on offense the past few games and hadn't been clicking like earlier in the restart. They looked quite good in this one.
It's just one game, but it's got to be a confident boosting win for the Sea Dogs. These two teams seemed destined for an opening round playoff series and Saint John's inability to solve the Titan has obviously been a concern. These two meet again on Friday in Saint John and will likely meet a few more times before the playoffs begin.

Peter Reynolds and Ryan Francis each recorded hat tricks while singles came from Josh Lawrence, Brady Burns and Nicholas Girouard. Francis and William Villeneuve also had three assists each. Zachary Emond made 20 saves in the win.

Bennett MacArthur and Jacob Melanson scored for the Titan. Chad Arsenault, who entered the game with a 6-1 record against the Sea Dogs this season, allowed six goals on 23 shots through 40 minutes of play. Jan Bednar allowed three goals on 15 shots in the third.

LINEUP
Girouard - Lawrence - Alchorn
Burns - Francis - Kotkov
Leonard - Reynolds - Bezeau
Hughes - Carruthers

Poirier - DesRoches
Drapeau - Inniss
Dow - Villeneuve
McCallum

Emond
Patenaude

SCRATCHES: Forwards Charles Savoie (injured), Cam MacDonald and Carter McCluskey along with defensemen Brandon Casey, Hunter Gartley (injured) and Jan Hampl (not arrived).

CHANGES: The Sea Dogs once again went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen and once again mixed up their forward lines and defense pairings. Vladislav Kotkov was not on the bench following the first period, giving Saint John just 10 forwards. Oddly, Saint John's best line came when Peter Reynolds moved up to take Kotkov's spot with Brady Burns and Ryan Francis.

THE FIRST: The Sea Dogs really controlled the first period and outshot the Titan 10-6 despite Bathurst having two power plays. Bathurst didn't record their first shot on goal until 9:43. The Titan looked a little sleepy compared to what we've seen from them in past games against the Dogs.

ODD GOALS: Saint John's first two goals - both credited to Peter Reynolds - were both scored off of Bathurst defensemen.
REYNOLDS: This was Reynolds' first multi-goal game of his QMJHL career. After his first two goals came off Bathurst defensemen, his third came after a shot in front was blocked by Lane Hinkley, allowing Reynolds to grab the loose puck and fire it into an open cage.

BIG NIGHTS: For a few Sea Dogs...

Ryan Francis: 3 goals, 3 assists, +5, 6 shots
Peter Reynolds: 3 goals, 1 assist, +6, 5 shots
Brady Burns: 1 goal, 2 assists, +5
Nicholas Girouard: 1 goal, 2 assists
William Villeneuve: 3 assists, +4

LOTS OF GOALS: This was the third time this season that Saint John scored nine goals in a game. That's quite a bit given that this was just Saint John's 31st game of the season.

Nov. 13: 9-4 win vs Moncton
April 2: 9-2 win vs Moncton
April 13: 9-2 win at Bathurst

EARLY GOALS: You have to wonder if Saint John had a game plan to come out firing at the start of each period.

1st period: Saint John goal at 2:22
2nd period: Saint John goals at 0:54 and 3:51
3rd period: Saint John goals at 0:20 and 1:04

ARSENAULT: Chad Arsenault entered this game with a 6-1 record against Saint John to go along with a 2.51 GAA and .927 SV%. He struggled in this one, allowing six goals on 23 shots through 40 minutes. Jan Bednar took over in the third but did not fare a whole lot better, allowing two goals in the first 1:04 of the period.

NOTES: Liam Leonard recorded an assist on Peter Reynolds' first period goal. It was his first point since March 14... Nathan Drapeau had two assists... Saint John ended a two-game losing skid... Bathurst's Bennett MacArthur now has 25 goals in 30 games... the attendance of 997 was the smallest crowd of the season in Bathurst.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs and Titan meet again on Friday night at 7 p.m. at TD Station.
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