EP.162.0 12-09-2011 SAINT JOHN SEA DOGS VS BATHURST TITAN

TITAN TOP SEA DOGS IN CLOSE AFFAIR - AUDIO TIM ROSZELL NEWS 88.9

The Saint John Sea Dogs fell to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan 3-2 in front of a crowd of 3,386 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Friday night.

Danick Gauthier had a goal and an assist, and Aidan Kelly also scored for the Sea Dogs, who remain first overall at 25-9-0-1. Mathieu Corbeil made 14 saves in the loss. Matthew Bissonnette and Zach O'Brien had a goal and an assist for the Titan and Sebastien Trudeau added a single as Bathurst climbed to 15-16-2-2. Robert Steeves made 33 saves for the win.

The Sea Dogs lost back-to-back games at home for the first time since March 3 and 5, 2010. Zack Phillips failed to register a point, and saw his Sea Dogs record points streak come to an end at 22 games.

Just under four minutes in, Gauthier attempted set the tone with a big hit inside the defensive blue line. The Sea Dogs managed to kill off two early penalties to keep momentum even and Corbeil made several big saves early on to keep the game scoreless.

The Sea Dogs outshot the Titan 6-1 in the first half of the second frame, but it was the top line of the visiting squad that tallied the first marker when Bissonnette backhanded the puck past Corbeil at 9:10.

The Sea Dogs upped the pressure in the offensive zone, and had nearly three minutes of time on attack to counter the Titan goal. Jurco had a beautiful chance on a behind-the-net feed from Phillips. Less than a minute later, Gauthier cut down the right wing side, fought off the Titan defender and fed Kelly a centering pass. Kelly banged home it with a backhand top-shelf at 18:59 for his fifth goal of the season. Stephen Anderson made the pass out of the zone for the secondary assist. The Sea Dogs outshot the Titan 13-3 in the second.

O'Brien put the Titan up 2-1 at 2:09 of the final frame. On a mixed-up play Trudeau took advantage of a turnover to extend the Titan lead to 3-1 at 6:29 of the third.

Just as a Titan penalty expired, a frenzied play ensued around the net, with Charles Roussel keeping the puck behind the red line and setting up shop behind the net. He fed it out front to Jurco who slid it across the crease to set up Gauthier's 27th goal of the season at 15:02. The play remained in the Titan zone for the final quarter of the period, but the Sea Dogs failed to nab the tying goal.

Saturday's game against the Halifax Mooseheads will be the annual Holiday Fun Day, with a visit from Santa Claus planned along with the return of the annual Teddy Bear Toss. Fans are encouraged to bring new stuffed animals to the game and throw them on the ice when the Sea Dogs score their first goal of the night. The bears will be distributed to needy families through the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Program.

This game will also feature a "Change Bandit" promotion organized by the Sea Dogs Foundation, with volunteers from local youth hockey teams collecting change to be donated to the Empty Stocking Fund.

Special guest Santa Claus will be attending the game and taking gift requests from young fans. And fans can receive a special gift of Sea Dogs wrapping paper courtesy of Advocate Printing.

Game time is 7 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are available at the Harbour Station box office, by calling 506-657-1234 or online at www.tickets.harbourstation.ca.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Acadie
• Bathurst
• Titan
• Saint
• John
• Sea
• Dogs
• QMJHL
• Danick
• Gauthier
• Aidan
• Kelly
• Mathieu
• Corbeil
• Matthew
• Bissonnette
• Zach
• OBrien
• Sebastien
• Trudeau
• Robert
• Steeves