PRE-GAME: Game Two vs PEI

GAME DAY
2010 Presidents Cup Playoffs – Round One
Game Two: PEI Rocket vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Harbour Station

SERIES STATUS
Saint John leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.

PRE-GAME PREVIEW
This is a huge game for the Prince Edward Island Rocket tonight at Harbour Station. Not only would a split in Saint John boost morale, but a win would put PEI bcak in the series as it heads back to Charlottetown on Tuesday.

The Rocket got destroyed last night at Harbour Station against a team they have played well against this season. Saint John did everything right and had their offense rolling on all cylinders. The neutral zone trap that PEI has used to stop the Dogs’ attack this season was nowhere to be found.

PEI net minder Evan Mosher struggled in goal, letting out several rebounds that produced goals for the Dogs. At the other end, Marco Cousineau was solid when called on upon.

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

KNOW THE TEAMS

Visiting Team: PEI Rocket
Playoff Record: 0-1
Playoff Leading Scorer: Samson Mahbod (1GP-0G-2A-2Pts)
Reg. Season Record: 35-25-2-6 (4th Atlantic, 8th QMJHL)
Record vs Saint John: 3-5-0-0
Record on the Road: 18-11-0-5 (7th)
All-Time Playoff Record: 19-34-0
Power Play: 19.6% (10th)
Penalty Kill: 81.0% (7th)
Reg. Season Leading Scorer: Samson Mahbod (52GP-20G-44A-64P)
Expected Starting Goaltender: Evan Mosher (21-13 record, 3.13 G.A.A., 0.904 SV%)
NHL Draft Picks: Jordon Southorn (Bufflao), and Benjamin Casavant (Washington)

Home Team: Saint John Sea Dogs
Playoff Record: 1-0
Playoff Leading Scorer: Tomas Jurco (1GP-1G-2A-3Pts); Michael Kirkpatrick (1GP-1G-2A-3Pts)
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)
All-Time Playoff Record: 9-10-0
Power Play: 24.3% (5th)
Penalty Kill: 78.8% (10th)
Reg. Season Leading Scorer: Mike Hoffman (56GP-46G-39A-85P)
Expected Starting Goaltender: Marco Cousineau (25-19 record, 2.82 G.A.A., 0.919 SV%)
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)

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
After finishing the season with a +46 rating, Nicholas Petersen was a -1 in game one.

SAINT JOHN LINE-UP NOTES
Mike Thomas is serving the final game of a six game suspension.

Aiden Kelly suffered a concussion last Sunday against Moncton and will not play.

Saint John Sea Dogs Director of Hockey Operations Mike Kelly announced today that the team has called up 19-year old forward Chuckie Schembri from the Dieppe Commandos (MJAHL). Dieppe was swept out of Kent Cup contention by the Woodstock Slammers earlier this month. Schembri recorded one assist and eleven penalty minutes in the series.

Marco Cousineau is expected to start in goal.

COACHES CORNER
Sea Dogs head coach Gerard Gallant in the Telegraph-Journal:

"We got pucks to the net and that's what we talked about in our game plan,'' Saint John head coach Gerard Gallant said. "They came out pretty good in the first five minutes and we had some trouble, but we got some early goals and that makes a big difference.”

PLAYOFF HISTORY
Saint John Sea Dogs playoff record since 2005:
2005-06 - Did not qualify.
2006-07 - Did not qualify.
2007-08 - Defeated P.E.I. 4-0 in first round, defeated Acadie-Bathurst 4-2 in second roud, lost to Rouyn-Noranda 4-0 in President’s Cup semifinal.
2008-09 - Lost to Cape Breton 4-0 in first round.

P.E.I. Playoff Results since 2003-04:
2003-04 - Defeated Quebec 4-1, lost to Moncton 4-3 in second round.
2004-05 - Did not qualify.
2005-06 - Lost to Acadie-Bathurst 4-2 in first round.
2006-07 - Lost to Acadie-Bathurst 4-3 in first round.
2007-08 - Lost to Saint John 4-0 in first round.
2008-09 - Lost to Moncton 4-1 in first round.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• The Sea Dogs are 2-2 all-time in game two games.
• Steven Anthony and Stephen MacAulay were the only Saint John forwards held pointless last night. Both are Halifax area natives and both have the same first name.
• Nathan Beaulieu has a 100% shooting percentage entering tonight’s game.
• It will be interesting to see who starts in goal tonight. Evan Mosher started the game last night but Wendell Vye came in to start the third. Mosher allowed six goals on 31 shots.
• PEI beat Saint John 29-28 on face-offs last night.
• Guardian reporter Charles Reid is taking his show on the road this weekend. He will bless Rocket fans with a live blog from Harbour Station. If you can’t go to the game – read it.

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
The series heads to the Island for game three on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm.