RECAP: Sea Dogs fall to Titan in spirited New Year’s Eve battle
SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs hosted the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in a New Year’s Eve showdown, witnessed by a massive crowd of 4,398 fans Sunday afternoon at TD Station. Despite a valiant effort, the Sea Dogs were defeated 4-2, dropping their record to 13-18-3-2. Fans were also treated to performances by Robyn Ottolini during the intermissions.
The first period began with a Titan goal being called-off due to goaltender interference. The Sea Dogs launched a strong offensive push at the nine minute mark including three high quality shots on net but they couldn’t convert. Titan forward Milo Roelens lit the scoreboard with just 33 seconds left, giving the Titan a 1-0 lead. The first period ended with the Sea Dogs trailing in shots, 11-16.
Sea Dogs goaltender Justin Robinson made a crucial glove save at 2:27 into the second period to keep them within one. Noah Reinhart tied the game at 4:35, picking up his own rebound, assisted by Pavel Simek. A goal from Joseph Henneberry allowed Acadie-Bathurst to quickly regain the lead at 6:32. A series of penalties, including ten-minute misconducts to Joseph Ianniello and Igor Mburanumwe, followed a large scrum on the ice at 9:41. Henneberry, with his second goal of the match, extended the Titan lead to 3-1 at 15:17. Another scuffle led to misconducts for Reinhart and Alexandre Lallier. The Sea Dogs ended the period with a 5-on-3 advantage but trailed 3-1.
Starting on the powerplay in the third, the Sea Dogs had chances but couldn’t take advantage. Robinson made a huge sliding pad save at 14:05 to keep the score close. At 18:32, with Robinson pulled for a man advantage, Coen Miller deflected a point shot by Nicolas Bilodeau to cut the deficit to 3-2. However, the Titan sealed their victory with an empty net goal from Robert Orr at 19:43. The game ended 4-2 in favor of the Titan, with the Sea Dogs trailing in shots, 40-27.
The Sea Dogs are back at TD Station this Thursday at 7pm looking to snap a three-game skid in their fourth matchup of the year against the Charlottetown Islanders. Tickets are available at the TD Station box office, by calling (506) 657-1234 or online at tickets.tdstation.com.
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