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Saint John Sea Dogs

Sea Dogs destroy Titan

January 9, 2008 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release


SAINT JOHN, NB --- The Saint John Sea Dogs routed the Acadie-Bathurst Titan by a score of 7-2 at Harbour Station on Wednesday night, holding onto the top spot in the QMJHL East in the process.

As a result of their lopsided win, Saint John remains one point ahead of the Halifax Mooseheads in the standings. Halifax, meanwhile, gained sole possession of second place in the division on Wednesday after defeating the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in Sydney, NS by a score of 5-2. Cape Breton is now alone in third with 54 points on the season.

After neither team scored in the opening twenty, the Titan struck early in the second period with a power play goal prior to surrendering three unanswered tallies to the Sea Dogs in 4:16 of action. Another man-up marker by the Titan late in the middle frame pulled the visitors to within one of the home team's lead, but back-to-back goals by Ryan Sparling early in the third period put Saint John up 5-2 and they cruised to victory from there, adding a sixth goal midway through the frame and a seventh late in regulation to produce the decisive five-goal victory.

Goaltender Robert Mayer, appearing in his first game since December 9, made a triumphant return to the Sea Dogs net after having taken part in the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championships as a member of Team Switzerland, making 25 saves on the night to earn his tenth win of the season.

In addition to Sparling's pair, Payton Liske (2), Keven Charland, Alexandre Leduc, and Alex Grant all scored for Saint John, while Drew Paris scored both of Acadie-Bathurst's goals. Antoine Tardif (30 saves) suffered the loss in net for the Titan.

Mayer was tested early on Wednesday, facing a three-on-one rush two minutes into the opening frame. The 18-year old European was able to stop Kyle McNeil's shot with an impressive pad save however, preventing the visitors from striking first in doing so. Two minutes later, Mayer came up big again, this time stoning Dany Massé on his backhand attempt from six feet out.

Yet another huge save by Mayer, this time on with his right leg on a Tomas Svoboda shot during a Sea Dogs penalty kill, then took place in the eighth minute of play, as the Titan grew increasingly frustrated with their inability to get anything past Saint John's stellar net minder despite their very best efforts.

The home team went on the power play for the first time at the 13:41 mark of the first, but Tardif was able to keep Saint John from converting on their man-up opportunity, making several saves throughout the two minute numerical discrepancy to keep the score tied 0-0.

Both squads then came up empty during a pair of late-period power play chances, resulting in Wednesday night's contest reaching the twenty minute mark with the score deadlocked at zeroes.

The Titan broke the scoreless tie 1:19 into the second period, with Drew Paris one-timing a hard slap shot from the point to the back of the Saint John net to give the visitors the first goal of the night and a 1-0 lead.

Saint John responded 1:36 later, as Keven Charland netted his 12th goal of the season to tie things up 1-1. Just 0:38 later, Alex Grant beat Tardif with a point shot to both earn his 11th goal of the year and give the Sea Dogs a 2-1 lead.

The home team then went up by two at the 7:11 mark of the middle frame when Payton Liske grabbed a loose puck in the slot and wired a wrist shot to the back of the Titan net to produce his sixth goal of 2007-08. Chris DiDomenico picked up an assist on the play, thusly regaining the top spot in the QMJHL scoring race with his 64th point, one better than Chicoutimi's Francis Paré.

Acadie-Bathurst's power play then struck again with five minutes remaining in the middle frame, with Paris earning his second of the game - this time on a wrist shot that concluded a lengthy scramble in front of the Saint John net.

A pair of Titan player were assessed minor penalties in the dying seconds of the second, ensuring that Saint John would commence the third period with a 5-on-3 advantage as they looked to add to their 3-2 lead.

The Sea Dogs were able to convert on their two-man advantage, as Ryan Sparling fired home a rebound to earn his 17th goal of the season and provide Saint John with an insurance marker early on in regulation's final frame.

Another goal by Sparling, this time during a penalty kill and on the tail end of a two-on-one rush with Chris DiDomenico, put the hosts up by a field goal, while a backhand tally off the stick of Payton Liske shortly thereafter made the score 6-2 in favour of Port City's major junior squad.

With 1:30 remaining in regulation, Alexandre Leduc got in on the action, wiring a wrist shot over Tardif's glove from between the face-off circles to earn his 13th tally of the season and punctuate the Sea Dogs' win with an exclamation point.

Mayer stopped all seven shots he faced in the closing twenty, delivering a victory for the Sea Dogs faithful in his first QMJHL match in a month.

Up next for the Sea Dogs is a Friday night match versus the Shawinigan Cataractes at Harbour Station. The action gets underway at 7:30pm as Saint John looks to win their second game in a row.

Check out the Saint John Sea Dogs Statistics

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Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2008


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