QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs

Titan Hand Sea Dogs Their First Post-Season Defeat

Published on April 8, 2008 under Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release


BATHURST, NB --- With the action shifting north for Game Three after a pair of matches in Saint John had gone the way of the Sea Dogs, a riveting post-season contest staged at Bathurst's K.C. Irving Regional Centre on Tuesday night proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Battle of New Brunswick will be exactly that - a battle.

In having swept P.E.I. out of President's Cup contention in Round One and having won the opening two games of their current series by a combined score of 9-5, Saint John was dealt their first loss of the entire playoffs on Tuesday, falling to Acadie-Bathurst by a score of 4-2 in what was an exciting, action-packed affair featuring countless big plays and several impressive performances from players on both teams.

After the opening forty minutes of play produced a 2-2 deadlock, the Titan scored early in the third period on the power play to regain the lead they'd surrendered late in the second. The Sea Dogs were unable to produce the equalizer despite some strong chances in the late-going, with a goal by Tomy Joly at the 18:05 mark of the third sealing the deal for Acadie-Bathurst.

Despite losing on Tuesday night, Saint John still leads the QMJHL Quarter-Final series two games to one.

In addition to Joly, Mathieu Perreault, Eric Faille, and Jonathan Laberge all scored for the Titan on Tuesday, with Scott Howes and Payton Liske responding for the Sea Dogs.

Travis Fullerton suffered the loss in net for Saint John despite playing extremely well for sixty shot-filled minutes, finishing the night with 45 stops to improve his playoff save percentage to 0.910% and earn Second Star of the Game honours. Meanwhile, Nicolas Champion (34 saves, Third Star) won his fifth career post-season decision between the pipes for Acadie-Bathurst.

The first period saw a progressively more aggressive pace of play produce some strong scoring chances at both ends of the ice but nothing in the way of quantitative offence, as both Champion and Fullerton exhibited a strong command of their respective nets in the early-going.

The visitors were finally able to break through on the power play late in the frame, with Francois Gauthier setting up Payton Liske for a point-blank one-timer after taking a pass from Alexandre Leduc at the point and stick handling around a pair of Titan players through the slot prior to spotting his line mate lurking near the Acadie-Bathurst net with no defenders in his immediate vicinity. Liske's tally, his third of the playoffs, proved to be the lone goal of the opening twenty, as Saint John entered the first intermission leading 1-0.

Veteran speedster Ryan Sparling very nearly doubled the Sea Dogs' lead in the opening minute of period number two, breaking in all alone on Champion after taking a pass near the Titan blue line and splitting a pair of Acadie-Bathurst defenders by making use of his dynamic skating abilities. The 17-year old goaltender from Newfoundland was able to deny Saint John's leading playoff scorer on his breakaway attempt however, using his blocker to great effect in stopping Sparling's close-range wrist shot.

A goal by Jonathon Laberge then tied things up at one apiece. The former Sea Dog beat Fullerton through the five-hole after grabbing a loose puck next to Saint John's net and spinning around quickly to shovel in his team's first marker of the evening 3:29 into the middle frame.

The home team then struck short-handed, with Eric Faille netting his second goal of the post-season as team mate Spencer Jezegou sat in the penalty box five minutes into the second period.

Faille's go-ahead tally marked the first time in the 2008 QMJHL Playoffs that the Sea Dogs had trailed in a game - an amazing stretch of 385 minutes.

With 4:35 remaining in the second, Scott Howes scored Saint John's second goal of the night, deflecting a shot by Ryan Sparling to the back of the Titan net to earn his eighth marker of the post-season.

From the Titan slot, Keven Charland nearly put Saint John back on top late in the period, one-timing a nifty pass from Pascal Amyot after the 18-year old defenseman had made a successful end-to-end rush. Champion was able to keep Charland's shot from breaching the Acadie-Bathurst goal line by virtue of an impressive sliding pad save however, as Tuesday's showdown reached the forty minute mark with the score tied 2-2.

Thirty seconds into the third period, the hosts retook the lead when QMJHL scoring champion Mathieu Perrault knocked home a rebound produced by a wrist shot off the stick of a plummeting Tomas Svoboda, giving the Titan a one-goal lead on the strength of his 18th career playoff goal.

The Sea Dogs went on their fourth power play of the game midway through regulation's final frame when Maxime Frechette was sentenced to two minutes in the sin bid. Despite applying some intense pressure in their opponents' zone throughout the duration of the 120 second five-on-four session, Saint John was unable to produce the equalizer as Champion continued to play well in net for the hosts.

With Chris DiDomenico in the penalty box after incurring a roughing call, Tomy Joly provided his team with an insurance marker late in regulation, deflecting a Mathieu Perreault slap shot past Fullerton to register his eighth post-season marker.

The visiting squad from Port City was unable to mount what would have been a heroic comeback attempt in the closing minutes of play, ultimately suffering a hard-fought two-goal loss at the hands of their provincial rivals.

Game Four of the Battle of New Brunswick goes Wednesday night in Bathurst as the Sea Dogs look to take a 3-1 lead back to Saint John for game five, which will be played at Harbour Station this coming Saturday, April 12, at 7:00pm

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from April 8, 2008


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