PRE-GAME: Game Four at PEI

GAME DAY
2010 Presidents Cup Playoffs – Round One
Game Four: Saint John Sea Dogs vs PEI Rocket
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Charlottetown Civic Centre

SERIES STATUS
Saint John leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.

PRE-GAME PREVIEW
The Saint John Sea Dogs responded well following a 6-3 loss at Harbour Station on Saturday.

Marco Cousineau recorded the shutout as the Dogs breezed by the Rocket 3-0 at the Charlottetown Civic Centre last night. The play was mostly in the Saint John end, with the majority of PEI’ s shots not being anywhere near a legitimate scoring chance.

Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant called out his defense following the loss Saturday, but had theur moments last night on the Island.

A win for the Dogs tonight will give Saint John a huge edge heading into game five back home.

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

GET TO KNOW THE ROCKET
Home Team: PEI Rocket

Playoff Record: 1-2
Record at Home: 0-1
Record on Road: 1-1
Power Play: 17.6% (12th)
Penalty Kill: 62.5% (14TH)
Playoff Leading Scorer: Samson Mahbod (3GP-0G-5A-5Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 20-35-0

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
Visiting Team: Saint John Sea Dogs

Playoff Record: 2-1
Record at Home: 1-1
Record on Road: 1-0
Power Play: 37.5% (3rd)
Penalty Kill: 82.4% (5th)
Playoff Leading Scorer: Tomas Jurco (3GP-1G-5A-6Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 10-11-0

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)

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
Three of Marco Cousineau’s five shutouts this season have been at the Charlottetown Civic Centre. Two have been with the Sea Dogs while the third came with the Rocket against Saint John.

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.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Simon Despres was a +3 last night while Adam Polasek was a -3.
• Saint John is 1-1 all-time in round one game four games.
• We will likely see the same goalies in this game as we have in all three previous tilts: Marco Cousineau for the Sea Dogs and Evan Mosher for the Rocket.
• Captain Mike Thomas returned to the Saint John lineup last night and was rather ineffective on the score sheet. He finished with no points, one win, and no hits.
• Saint John did have a 50% power play rating entering last night’s game. They went 0/4 last evening though.

THE RINK
Venue: Charlottetown Civic Centre
Capacity: 3,690
Playoff Average Attendance: 2,208
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 2,055

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, peirocket.com

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

AFTER THE BUZZER
The series goes back to Saint John Friday at 7:30 pm for game five.