PRE-GAME: Game Five vs PEI

GAME DAY
2010 Presidents Cup Playoffs – Round One
Game Five: PEI Rocket vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Friday, March 26, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Harbour Station

SERIES STATUS
Saint John leads the best-of-seven series 3-1.

PRE-GAME PREVIEW
It’s cliché time for the Prince Edward Island Rocket. Down 3-1 in their opening round best-of-seven series, the Rocket face elimination tonight in Saint John.

The Sea Dogs defeated the Rocket in Charlottetown 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday. It was game that saw little offence from either team with PEI having momentum – and the lead – for much of the affair. Saint John didn’t score until the final three minutes of the third period, ultimately setting up Tomas Jurco’s overtime marker.

“We really wanted (to win) both games here. It was a tough game, a tight game,” said Jurco to The Guardian. “We’re really happy to win.”

Jurco leads the Sea Dogs in playoff scoring with seven points, including at least a point in all four games played so far.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
The consensus pick for this series is Sea Dogs in five games.

GET TO KNOW THE ROCKET
Visiting Team: PEI Rocket

Playoff Record: 1-3
Record at Home: 0-2
Record on Road: 1-1
Power Play: 18.2 (13th)
Penalty Kill: 70% (12th)
Playoff Leading Scorer: Jean-Philippe Mathieu (4GP-1G-4A-5Pts); Samson Mahbod (4GP-0G-5A-5Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 20-36-0

Reg. Season Record: 35-25-2-6 (4th Atlantic, 8th QMJHL)
Record vs Saint John: 3-5-0-0
Record at Home: 17-14-2-1 (13th)
Record on the Road: 18-11-0-5 (7th)
Power Play: 19.6% (10th)
Penalty Kill: 81.0% (7th)

Reg. Season Leading Scorer: Samson Mahbod (52GP-20G-44A-64P)

NHL Draft Picks: Jordon Southorn (Bufflao), and Benjamin Casavant (Washington)

GET TO KNOW THE SEA DOGS
Home Team: Saint John Sea Dogs

Playoff Record: 3-1
Record at Home: 1-1
Record on Road: 2-0
Power Play: 30.8% (5th)
Penalty Kill: 81.8% (4th)
Playoff Leading Scorer: Tomas Jurco (4GP-2G-5A-7Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 11-11-0

Reg. Season Record: 53-12-1-2 (1st Atlantic, 1st QMJHL)
Record vs PEI: 5-3-0-0
Record at Home: 26-7-0-1 (3rd)
Record on Road: 27-5-1-1 (1st)
Power Play: 24.3% (5th)
Penalty Kill: 78.8% (10th)

Reg. Season Leading Scorer: Mike Hoffman (56GP-46G-39A-85P)

NHL Draft Picks: Yann Sauve (Vancouver), Marco Cousineau (Anaheim), Simon Despres (Pittsburgh), Steven Anthony (Vancouver), Mike Hoffman (Ottawa), and Nicholas Petersen (Pittsburgh).

HEAD-TO-HEAD THIS SEASON
Saint John won the season series 5-3.

Sep 23, 2009: PEI Rocket 6 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 1
Oct 13, 2009: Saint John Sea Dogs 0 @ PEI Rocket 4
Oct 18, 2009: PEI Rocket 2 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 5
Dec 02, 2009: Saint John Sea Dogs 4 @ PEI Rocket 1
Dec 11, 2009: Saint John Sea Dogs 4 @ PEI Rocket 1
Dec 29, 2009: PEI Rocket 2 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 5
March 2, 2010: PEI Rocket 3 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 1
March 12, 2010: Saint John Sea Dogs 4 @ PEI Rocket 0

Rocket Leading Scorer vs Saint John: Benjamin Casavant (8GP-4G-2A-6Pts)
Sea Dogs Leading Scorer vs PEI: Nicholas Petersen (7GP-5G-5A-10Pts)

Playoff Results
Game 1: Sea Dogs 8 - Rocket 3 (First Star: Tomas Jurco)
Game 2: Rocket 6 - Sea Dogs 3 (First Star: Jarrad Struthers)
Game 3: Sea Dogs 3 – Rocket 0 (First Star: Mike Hoffman)
Game 4/OT: Sea Dogs 2 – Rocket 1 (First Star: Evan Mosher)

TALE OF THE TAPE
HOCKEYFIGHTS.COM
Sep 23, 2009: Matthew Hobbs vs Mike Thomas
Oct 13, 2009: Brendan Wright vs Mike Thomas
Oct 13, 2009: Louis-Philippe Lacroix vs Benjamin Lecomte
Dec 11, 2009: Brendan Wright vs Mike Thomas

CRAZY FACT
This is the first round one game five game in Sea Dogs history. It is only the second game five in team history. The first game saw Saint John lose 6-4 to Bathurst on home ice.

SAINT JOHN LINEUP NOTES
Aiden Kelly will not play due to a concussion… Steven Anthony is questionable with a groin injury. He has missed the last three games… Nicholas Pard missed Wednesday’s game with a shoulder injury. A time for his return has not been released.

ROCKET JINX
A PEI loss means yet another first round exit for the Rocket. Since moving to the Island, the Rocket have only advanced to the second round once.

ALMOST THERE
It’s not like the Rocket have been totally shut down in this series by Saint John. In game one, nerves got to the Rocket. After pulling off a solid 6-3 win in game two, PEI fell 3-0 on home ice as their offence ran dry.

PEI captain Jean-Philippe Mathieu, who said he believed in his team after Tuessday’s 3-0 loss in Game 3, won’t change his view heading into Game 5.

“Definitely. What happened (Wednesday) only proved to me what I said (Tuesday),” he said.

FLASHBACK FRIDAY
A look back at round one of the 2008 post-season vs PEI.


WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Yann Sauve will have a target on his back tonight after being ejected from Wednesday’s game due to a checking from behind penalty. The victim, Jarrad Struthers, stayed in the game.
• Net minder Evan Mosher has been superb in this series. Although he has allowed 14 goals in four games, Mosher has kept the Rocket in it.
• The Rocket have proved three times this year that they can beat Saint John at Harbour Station.
• Only one series (Drummondville vs Lewiston) lasted just four games. All others have at least a game five to play.
• Adam Polasek and Guillaume Pelletier are a team worst -5. Jarrad Struthers is a team high +3.
• After finishing the season with a team high +46 rating, Nicholas Petersen is a team worst -3 in four games. Simon Despres is a team high +4.
• Guardian reporter Charles Reid will be producing his live blog from Harbour Station again tonight.

THE RINK
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297
Playoff Average Attendance: 4,225
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 4,140

MEDIA RELATIONS
Newspapers: Saint John- Telegraph-Journal; PEI- The Guardian
Radio: Saint John- News 88.9; PEI- peirocket.com
Video: Telus Webcast
Post-Game Highlights: SeaDogsTV

TWITTER
Follow Station Nation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/station_nation for in game updates from tonight’s game.

AFTER THE BUZZER
A Sea Dogs loss means game six will be played on Sunday in Charlottetown at 4:00 pm. A win shoots Saint John into the quarter-finals which will likely begin next Friday at 7:30 pm at Harbour Station.