Friday, August 21, 2015

RECAP: Sea Dogs Win 8-2

FINAL: Saint John 8, Bathurst 2
BATHURST – With a lineup filled with returning and veteran players, the Saint John Sea Dogs showed off some firepower in an 8-2 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at the KC Irving Regional Centre on Friday night.

Adam Marsh and Sam Povorozniouk each scored twice while singles came from Matthew Highmore, Adam Bateman, Thomas Chabot and Luke Green. Nathan Noel and Jason Bell each chipped in with three assists while Spencer Smallman and Highmore each had two.

Alex Bishop got the start and made 16 saves on 16 shots. Marc-Andre Turcotte made 16 stops in the second half of the game.

Egor Popov and Felix Boivin replied for the Titan. Daniel Vautour and Tanner Somers combined to make 29 saves.

This was Saint John’s third pre-season game of the year but the first where they dressed veteran players. Sure it’s only exhibition, but it’s a great sign to see the team’s offense explode like this.

Saint John led 2-0 after the first period with Marsh scoring the game’s opening goal just 1:29 in. Povorozniouk’s second of the game in the second period gave the Dogs a 3-0 advantage heading into the third.

After Chabot and Boivin exchanged goals early in the third, Saint John rattled off four straight goals. Popov netted the game’s final marker on a power play with just under two minutes to play.

Some other news and notes…

  • If you care about such things, Saint John is now 2-1-0-0 in pre-season play while Bathurst is 0-3-0-0.
  • Also, if you care about such things, Bailey Webster was a +5.
  • Good to see Alex Bishop stop all 16 shots he faced. 
  • Saint John did much better on faceoffs than they did last Thursday against the Titan, winning 39 of 61.
  • Oliver Felixson played his first game as a Sea Dog, wearing Pierre Durepos’ old No. 23. He was a +2 on the night.
  • Jakub Zboril (Boston Bruins camp), Ian Smallwood, Joe Veleno, Julien Tessier and Alex Kealey did not play for the Sea Dogs.
  • No fights in the game. Pre-season hockey ain’t what it used to be, man.
  • This game was free to attend and the announced crowd was 1,554.

NEXT GAME: The Sea Dogs host the Moncton Wildcats tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Harbour Station.

Photo courtesy Bryan Willett

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