PRE-GAME: Game Five - Saint John Sea Dogs vs Victoriaville Tigres

GAME DAY
2010 Presidents Cup Playoffs – Round Three
Game Five: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Victoriaville Tigres
Saturday, April 24, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Colisee Desjardins

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

PRE-GAME PREVIEW
It’s the biggest game in franchise history for the Saint John Sea Dogs this afternoon in Victoriaville.

Following a dominating 6-1 win last night at Colisee Desjardins, the Sea Dogs hold a 3-1 series lead and are one win away from the league final. The Moncton Wildcats advanced to the final last night following a 4-2 win in Drummondville.

Saint John dominated all aspects of the game last night. Unlike Tuesday, the Dogs got out to a quick start and never looked back. The Port City squad led the game 5-0 at one point in the third period.

Goaltender Marco Cousineau was sensational on the night, allowing Saint John to keep their momentum for most of the game.

Victoriaville should come out flying today despite the fact that this game is less than 24 hours after a crushing game four loss.

With the Tigres’ season on the line, Saint John will need to stick to their game plan to beat the Victo' storm.

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

Playoff Record: 11-2
Record at Home: 6-1
Record on Road: 5-1
Power Play: 30.4%
Penalty Kill: 82.2%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Michael Kirkpatrick (13GP-10G-13A-23Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 19-12

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

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).

GET TO KNOW THE TIGRES
Home Team: Victoriaville Tigres

Playoff Record: 9-5
Record at Home: 5-2
Record on Road: 4-3
Power Play: 31.7%
Penalty Kill: 85%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Philip-Michael Devos (14GP-8G-14A-22Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 109-112

Reg. Season Record: 46-19-1-2
Record vs Saint John: 1-1-0-0
Record at Home: 23-8-1-2 (4th)
Record on the Road: 23-11-0-0 (3rd)
Power Play: 25.6%
Penalty Kill: 85.8%

Reg. Season Leading Scorer: Philip-Michael Devos (68GP-35G-58A-93Pts)

NHL Draft Picks: Kevin Poulin (New York Islanders), Andrej Nestrasil (Detroit), Tomas Kubalik (Columbus), Joel Champagne (Toronto), Chris Doyle (New York Rangers), Joel Chouinard (Colorado), Samuel Groulx (San Jose).

HEAD-TO-HEAD THIS SEASON
Season series tied 1-1.

September 25, 2009: Victoriaville 5 @ Saint John 2
October 4, 2009: Saint John 5 @ Victoriaville 3

Sea Dogs leading scorer vs Victoriaville: Nicholas Petersen (1GP-1G-2A-3Pts) and Steven Anthony (2GP-1G-2A-3Pts)
Tigres leading scorer vs Saint John: Andrej Nestrasil (2GP-3G-3A-6Pts)

SERIES RESULTS/SCHEDULE
Saint John leads the best-of-seven series 3-1.

GAME 1: Friday, April 16 – Victoriaville Tigres 2 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 4
GAME 2: Saturday, April 17 – Victoriaville Tigres 1 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 5
GAME 3: Tuesday, April 20 – Saint John Sea Dogs 3 @ Victoriaville Tigres 6
GAME 4: Friday, April 23 – Saint John Sea Dogs 6 @ Victoriaville Tigres 1

GAME 5: Saturday, April 24 - 5pm @ Desjardins Coliseum
*GAME 6: Monday, April 26 - 7pm @ Harbour Station
*GAME 7: Wednesday, April 28 - 7pm @ Harbour Station
*if necessary

TALE OF THE TAPE
September 25, 2009: Alexandre Leduc vs Maxime Robichaud
September 25, 2009: Danick Gauthier vs Patrick Dore

CRAZY FACT
This is the latest game date in Sea Dogs franchise history. The previous record was April 23.

SAINT JOHN LINEUP NOTES
Kevin Gagne did not travel with the team to Victoriaville because of a knee injury. The 17-year old has not played since game five of the opening round.

Steven Anthony is questionable with a groin injury. Will Johnston has been taking his place in the lineup.

Tyrone Sock did not make the trip. Chuckie Schembri played for Mike Thomas last night and Aiden Kelly was a healthy scratch. Thomas is eligible to return from his suspension tonight.

VICTORIAVILLE LINEUP NOTES
Keven Dupont, the victim of the Mike Thomas hit, will likely not play because of a concussion and broken nose.

Pier-Luc Pelletier, who has been battling a lower body injury in this series, played last night after missing game three.

Also, the dynamic Brandon Hynes had limited playing time last and may possibly be injured again.

BETWEEN THE PIPES
From saintjohnseadogs.com:

Between the pipes, overage net minder Marco Cousineau has recorded a G.A.A. of 2.45 and a SV% of 0.934 versus the Tigres in the semis, picking up three victories in his four starts. The Anaheim Ducks prospect is now 11-2 with a 2.21 G.A.A. and a 0.924 SV% on the 2010 post-season.

ALL TIED UP
According to the Sea Dogs’ official Twitter stream, Michael Kirkpatrick is tied with Scott Howes with 15 career playoff goals as a Sea Dog.

HISTORY
Only one other time have the Sea Dogs held a 3-1 series lead and clinched the series in game five. That came in this year’s first round against PEI. The other time Saint John held a 3-1 lead, the Dogs dropped game five at Harbour Station against Bathurst in 2008.

WHO TO WATCH
Victoriaville- Kevin Poulin
The Tigres’ goaltender has the ability to steal games. With their season on the line today, expect a big game from the net minder.

Saint John- Nicholas Petersen
Petersen has five assists in the four games of this series. He had a strong game last night with three assists and almost set up Michael Kirkpatrick for a beauty.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Last night was only the Sea Dogs’ second win at Colisee Desjardins.
• Michael Kirkpatrick and Stanislav Galiev lead the Sea Dogs in series scoring with six points. Kirkpatrick has two goals and three assists while Galiev has two goals and four assists.
• Mike Hoffman is on a five game point streak. In that span, the Ottawa Senators draft pick has two goals and four assists.
• Galiev has a four game point streak going and has scored two goals and recorded four assists during that time. He has scored in each game of the series.
• Stanislav Galiev, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Tomas Jurco are one, two, three in rookie playoff scoring.

THE RINK
Venue: Colisee Desjardins
Capacity: 2,997
Playoff Average Attendance: 2,668
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 2,417

MEDIA RELATIONS
Newspapers: Saint John- Telegraph- Journal, L’Acadie Nouvelle; Victoriaville- La Nouvelle/L’Union
Radio: Saint John- News 88.9; Victoriaville- 95.7 KYQ
Video: Telus Webcast
Post-Game Highlights: RDS.ca

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

AFTER THE BUZZER
A Victoriaville win forces a game six at Harbour Station on Monday. A Sea Dogs win will propel them into the league final on Friday in Saint John.