SEA DOGS BLANK TITAN TO WRAP UP HOME STAND
SAINT JOHN – Sebastien Auger kicked out 32 shots for his first shutout of the season, leading the Saint John Sea Dogs to a 4-0 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Sunday at Harbour Station.
Oliver Cooper scored twice for Saint John (15-29-1-3), which snapped a two-game losing skid. Matthew Highmore and Nicolas Hebert also found the net.
The Titan saw their winless streak hit six games. Acadie-Bathurst have not scored in the last three games.
A complete game summary can be found HERE.
After failing to score on a power play that began in the opening minute, the Sea Dogs were forced to kill off three straight minor penalties, including a 35-second 5-on-3 chance.
Saint John did open the scoring on another man advantage with under five minutes remaining in the first.
Defenceman Thomas Chabot moved into the left wing circle and sent a backdoor pass to Highmore off the right side of the crease, and the Halifax-native snapped it home to give Saint John a 1-0 lead.
The Sea Dogs carried that advantage into the first intermission, outshooting the Titan 11-8.
The game stayed 1-0 into the second half of the period.
Titan goalie Jacob Brennan stymied Saint John rookie Mathieu Joseph with his right leg after the forward redirected a pass from a Hebert in the low slot.
At the other end of the ice, Sea Dogs’ goalie Sebastien Auger used his right leg to stone former Saint John teammate Scott Oke on a wraparound try to the far post.
The Sea Dogs doubled their lead on a delayed penalty call with just over a minute left in the middle frame. Hebert charged in on the right side and finished off a short cross-ice pass from Joseph.
Saint John led 2-0 after two periods, but were outshot 12-7 in the second.
The Sea Dogs’ leading scorer created a three-goal advantage on a power play seven minutes into the third period.
After Acadie-Bathurst could not clear the puck, Spencer Smallman settled it and moved into the right circle, and then fed a quick pass to a wide-open Cooper in front. The Fredericton-native chipped in his team-leading 16th goal of the season.
Auger saved his best work for the third period.
The 19-year-old keeper denied a backhand shot from Oke on a 2-on-1 with about ten minutes to play.
A couple of minutes later, Titan forward Matthew Boudreau stole the puck to the right wing side of the Saint John goal and rifled a wrist shot that Auger snared with his glove hand.
The St-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Quebec, native also used his left pad to kick aside a chance from Acadie-Bathurst captain Raphael Lafontaine on a shorthanded 3-on-1 late in the game.
The Sea Dogs closed the scoring with another power play marker in the game’s final two minutes.
Blueliner Will Thompson sent a long wrist shot from the middle of the point that Cooper, standing directly in front of the goaltender, deflected to the right of Brennan and into the goal.
Shots were even in the third period at 12-12, while Acadie-Bathurst held a slight edge in the game at 32-30.
Chabot’s two assists garnered a first star selection while Auger took second star honours. Smallman also had two assists to earn third star in front of 3,735 fans in attendance.
Brennan made 26 stops in defeat for the Titan.
The Sea Dogs’ next game is Wednesday, January 29th, at 8 p.m. when they battle the Shawinigan Cataractes at Centre Gervais Auto. Listen LIVE on News 88.9 FM. Watch LIVE on TELUS (via theqmjhl.ca – fee applies).
Saint John’s next home game is Friday, February 7th, at 7:30 p.m. against the Rimouski Oceanic. Tickets are available at the Harbour Station box office, online at tickets.harbourstation.ca, or by calling 657-1234.
