Sea Dogs Demolish Titan 8-2
November 14, 2009 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Saint John Sea Dogs News Release
SAINT JOHN, NB --- The high-flying Saint John Sea Dogs made it a baker's dozen on Saturday night, extending their franchise-best winning streak to 13 games in routing the Acadie-Bathurst Titan by a score of 8-2 at Harbour Station.
Saint John outshot their provincial rivals 54-17 on the night, marking the second consecutive match in which the Sea Dogs have registered fifty or more shots.
Zack Phillips (3), Nick Petersen, Kevin Gagné, Jonathan Huberdeau, Stanislav Galiev, and Mike Hoffman all scored for Saint John in the dominant home win, while Nathan Beaulieu tied a team record by dishing out five assists on the evening.
=C9ric Faille and Vincent Couture, meanwhile, both scored for Acadie-Bathurst in a losing effort.
Between the pipes Marc-Antoine Gélinas (15 saves) improved to 14-3 for the Sea Dogs while Guillaume Nadeau (46 saves) fell to 2-6 the Titan.
Rookie forward Zack Phillips got Saint John on the scoreboard in the sixth minute of play, wisely electing to shoot whilst on a two-on-one rush with Nicholas Pard. The 17-year old Frederictonian rifled the puck to the back of Acadie-Bathurst's net to tally his fourth goal of the season.
Phillips struck again eight minutes later, this time beating Nadeau on a low wrist shot from the slot's right fringe to put the hosts up 2-0. Sophomore blue-liner Nathan Beaulieu set the play up with a nifty backhand pass from the side boards, registering the twentieth assist of his career in the process.
The visitors cut their opponents' lead in half late in the opening frame when veteran winger Vincent Couture banged home a rebound during a Titan power play to pick up the fifth goal of his season.
Acadie-Bathurst tied things up 8:09 into period number two, with =C9ric Faille one-timing a Rémi Blanchard pass by Gélinas from close range to make his 12th marker of 2009-10 of the man-up variety.
Star winger Mike Hoffman put the Sea Dogs back on top eleven minutes later, ripping a wrist shot past Nadeau from the top of the left face-off circle following a successful draw by Michael Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick's point streak now stands at ten games.
Jonathan Huberdeau added an insurance goal for Saint John early in the third period, vacating the penalty box and promptly receiving a breakaway pass from Yann Sauvé. The 16-year forward made a dazzling deking maneuver on the play prior to tucking the sixth goal of his rookie season past an out-of-position Nadeau.
The home team went up 5-2 at the 3:39 mark of regulation's final frame, with Nick Petersen burying his tenth of the year following a lengthy, frantic scramble in Acadie-Bathurst's zone.
Stanilav Galiev then netted a power play goal with 5:51 remaining in regulation, blasting a slap shot by the Titan's goalie to pick up his seventh career goal. Just 44 seconds later, Zack Phillips put the finishing touches on his first QMJHL hat trick, executing a picture-perfect give-and-go play with Jonathan Huberdeau in Titan territory prior to firing the puck into an open net, past a sprawling Nadeau who was dumfounded by the freshman forwards' passing wizardry.
Saturday's rout was added to at the 16:24 mark of the third, as a streaking Kevin Gagné wired home his third of the year on a blistering snap shot that put the Sea Dogs up by an unconverted touchdown, which was how the game ended.
The Sea Dogs' league-best record improves to 21-4-1-0 with Saturday's victory, while the Titan fall to 8-14-2-1 with the road loss. Saint John finished the night 3-for-5 with the man advantage, while Acadie-Bathurst went 2-for-5.
Up next for the Port City's major junior squad is a Friday night showdown with their fellow President's Cup contenders, the Drummondville Voltigeurs. The puck drops at 8:30pm AST at the Marcel Dionne Centre as the Sea Dogs look to keep their winning streak going on the road versus the reigning league champions.
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from November 14, 2009
- Juniors lose in Val-d'Or 3 to 1 - Montreal Juniors
- Sea Dogs Demolish Titan 8-2 - Saint John Sea Dogs
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