GAME DAY2010 Presidents Cup Playoffs – Round Three
Game Four: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Victoriaville Tigres
Friday, April 23, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Colisee Desjardins
SERIES STATUS
Saint John leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.
PRE-GAME PREVIEW
After a brief break, the semi-final playoff series between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Victoriaville Tigres continues tonight.
Saint John leads the series 2-1 despite a rough outing Tuesday night in Victoriaville. The Tigres’ wicked fast first period propelled the home team to a 6-3 win and got them back in the series.
The Sea Dogs can still take a commanding lead with a win tonight, or, the series could become a best-of-three affair with a Tigres win. Either way, game five will go tomorrow night at 5:00 pm in Victoriaville.
The game plan for the Tigres is simple – do what you did on Tuesday. A fast start sucked the life out of the Dogs. Victo’ stayed well composed for most of the game as well, something that Saint John did not do.
The Sea Dogs will look to stay out of the box tonight. Despite going 3/3 on the power play in game three, the team allowed three goals while a man down.
“We need to learn we can’t take stupid penalties,” said Saint John centre Michael Kirkpatrick to the Telegraph-Journal.
All-time, Saint John is 4-2 in game four games.
GET TO KNOW THE SEA DOGS
Visiting Team: Saint John Sea Dogs
Playoff Record: 10-2
Record at Home: 6-1
Record on Road: 4-1
Power Play: 31.1%
Penalty Kill: 82.9%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Michael Kirkpatrick (12GP-9G-12A-21Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 18-12
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: 9-4
Record at Home: 5-1
Record on Road: 4-3
Power Play: 31.7%
Penalty Kill: 85.3%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Philip-Michael Devos (13GP-8G-13A-21Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 109-111
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 2-1.
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 - 8pm @ Desjardins Coliseum
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
Two years ago tonight, the Sea Dogs were swept out of the 2008 semi-finals by Rouyn-Noranda following a 5-4 loss at Harbour Station.
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.
Mike Thomas has been suspended for tonight’s game by the QMJHL. The suspension came as a result of a charging penalty he received in the first period of Tuesday’s game.
Steven Anthony is questionable with a groin injury.
Tyrone Sock did not make the trip. Aiden Kelly and Chuckie Schembri were healthy scratches on Tuesday and Will Johnston took Anthony’s spot in the lineup.
VICTORIAVILLE LINEUP NOTES
Defenseman Keven Dupont of the Tigres will not play tonight. He was the victim of the Mike Thomas hit, receiving a concussion on the play. He is questionable for the remainder of the post-season.
The 20-year old has played in four playoff games and has recorded one goal. He took four minor penalties in game two in Saint John.
Victoriaville Tigres defenseman Pier-Luc Pelletier did not play Tuesday. La Nouvelle/L’Union reports that Pelletier was hurt on Saturday during the Tigres’ 5-1 loss in Saint John.
The 18-year old played in 57 regular season games and recorded two goals and 10 assists. In the post-season, he has one assist in 12 games.
THEY SPEAK
Saint John’s Michael Kirkpatrick in the Telegraph-Journal:
“We need to learn we can’t take stupid penalties,” said Kirkpatrick. “That’s what they want, they’re diving all over the place. After the whistle, they’re just looking for someone to punch them, but we have to take a few punches if we want to win.
“We know we’re the better team. I think the first period was really bad, but the next two were good for us. We dominated the second and third periods.”
Victoriaville’s Chris Doyle in the Telegraph-Journal:
“They’re a great team and they have a great coach,’’ Doyle said of the Sea Dogs. “We knew we had to get the first win here and guys stepped up. We have to tighten up in our own end, but other than that, we’re just looking forward to Friday.”
THE RACE IS ON
From saintjohnseadogs.com:
In the overall playoff scoring race, veteran centre Michael Kirkpatrick (9G-12A) is currently in a four-way tie for the league lead with 21 points. Moncton's Kelsey Tessier (10G-11A), Victoriaville’s Phillip-Michaël Devos (8G-13A) and Drummondville’s Chris DiDomenico (7G-14A) have reached the same points total during their teams’ respective President’s Cup runs.
OUT OF TOWN
In the other semi-final, Moncton takes a 3-1 series edge into Drummondville tonight.
AROUND THE TOWN
WIKIPEDIA
In June 1993, after a referendum on amalgamation, the municipalities of Sainte-Victoire-D'Arthabaska, Arthabaska and Victoriaville merged to form the city of Victoriaville.
WHO TO WATCH
Victoriaville – Philip-Michael Devos
Coming off a five point (two goals, three assists) night in game three on Tuesday. Devos led the Tigres in regular season scoring and currently leads the team in playoff scoring.
Saint John – Will Johnston
The tough guy played very well on Tuesday, replacing Steven Anthony in the Dogs lineup. With Thomas out, the Sea Dogs will no doubt look to “Will the Thrill” for some toughness.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Saint John has only won one game all-time at Colisee Desjardins.
- Mike Hoffman will likely wear the captains “C” tonight with Mike Thomas out. Hoffman has worn the letter eight times this year.
- The Tigres are filling 88.7% of the Colisee Desjardins so far in the post-season.
- Mike Hoffman is on a four-game point scoring streak. During that span, the 20-year old has one goal and four assists.
- Stanislav Galiev is on a three-point scoring streak. In that span, the Russian has one goal and four assists.
- The Sea Dogs are coming off their first road loss if the post-season.
- Galiev leads all rookies in points with 16 in the playoffs. His teammate Jonathan Huberdeau is second with 15 points. Huberdeau still leads all rookies with 10 goals.
THE RINK
Venue: Colisee Desjardins
Capacity: 2,997
Playoff Average Attendance: 2,659
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
Game five goes tomorrow at 5:00 pm at Colisee Desjardins.
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