RECAP: Yared leads Sea Dogs to second straight win
SAINT JOHN – William Yared led the way with a goal, an assist, and the shootout winner as the Saint John Sea Dogs picked up their second straight come-from-behind victory 5-4 against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Teddy Bear Toss day at TD Station. Heading into the Christmas break the Sea Dogs record sits at 16-16-0-0.
The other goal scorers for Saint John were Ben Cross, Nate Tivey, and Zach Morin.
Louis-François Bélanger led the Titan with two goals followed by Tyson Goguen and Tyler Wood with goals of their own.
GAME SUMMARY
Exactly one minute into the first period a stray pass from a Bathurst defender was recovered by William Yared who flipped it over the unsuspecting Joshua Fleming putting the Dogs up 1-0 and bringing the teddy bears raining down.
At the 16:03 mark, shorthanded, Harry Clements sent Tyson Goguen to dance in alone and lift it over the outstretched Charles-Édward Gravel tying the game at one apiece.
The Titan took the lead three minutes into the second when Ty Peddigrew deflected the puck off Tyler Wood’s skate and in. Roughly a minute later Alexandre Lallier set up Louis-François Bélanger for a one-timer to advance the Titan lead again. Bélanger would score again 14 seconds later, five-hole this time, being set up by Noah Laberge to go up 4-1.
The Sea Dogs mounted their comeback when Coen Miller dropped the puck back to Ben Cross for a quick wrist shot, beating Fleming at 5:49. At the 16:47 point, on the powerplay, Nate Tivey picked the top right corner assisted by Yared. With just 12 seconds left in the period Olivier Groulx faked a shot and then slid the puck to Zach Morin who rifled it past Fleming tying the game 4-4.
Gravel stood tall in the third period, stopping all 12 Titan shots and ensuring the game went to overtime. Both teams traded chances in the extra frame, each recording four shots, but neither could capitalize.
In the shootout, Yared scored the lone goal sealing the victory for the Sea Dogs, 5-4.
NOTES
- Saint John was once again without Eriks Mateiko, Tyler Peddle, and Olivier Duhamel. Matthew MacLean was out with an injury.
- Zach Morin moves to third in QMJHL rookie scoring with 20 points in 21 games.
- The Sea Dogs were perfect on the penalty kill for the fourth straight game, improving to 84.4% this season.
STATISTICS
SOG: SNB – 34 | BAT – 39
PP: SNB – 1/4 | BAT – 0/2
Faceoffs: SNB – 32 | BAT – 36
GOALTENDING BATTLE
Saint John: Charles-Edward Gravel (35 saves / 39 shots)
Acadie-Bathurst: Joshua Fleming (30 saves / 34 shots)
3 STARS
1st: SNB – William Yared – 1G, 1A, SO Winner
2nd: SNB – Nate Tivey – 1G, 1A
3rd: BAT – Louis-Francois Belanger – 2G
UP NEXT
Next game for the Sea Dogs is on Saturday, December 28th as they visit the Moncton Wildcats at 4:00 pm at the Avenir Centre.
For the latest Sea Dogs news, visit SJSeaDogs.com, or follow the team on Facebook (Facebook.com/sjseadogs), Twitter (@SJSeaDogs), and Instagram (@SJSeaDogs).
