GAME DAY2010 Presidents Cup Playoffs – Round Three
Game Two: Victoriaville Tigres vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Harbour Station
SERIES STATUS
Saint John leads the best-of-seven series 1-0.
PRE-GAME PREVIEW
The Saint John Sea Dogs are only three wins away from the league final.
Following one of the best games at Harbour Station this season, the same two teams do battle once again tonight at 8:00 pm in Saint John.
The Sea Dogs took a 1-0 series lead after a 4-2 win over the Victoriaville Tigres.
The Tigres owned the first 10 minutes of the game and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. But the Dogs battled back with Mike Thomas rerecording the game winner in the third.
Tonight’s tilt will be the latest start time in franchise history as the Harbour Station crew will be put to the test in order to get the ice ready for 8:00 pm. The ice was not great last night following a concert on Thursday evening, and don’t expect it to be much better tonight.
Also, the Sea Dogs have entered uncharted territory with this being the first time they have led a semi-final series.
GET TO KNOW THE TIGRES
Visiting Team: Victoriaville Tigres
Playoff Record: 8-3
Record at Home: 4-1
Record on Road: 4-2
Power Play: 33.3%
Penalty Kill: 91.8%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Philip-Michael Devos (11GP-6G-10A-16Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 108-110
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).
GET TO KNOW THE SEA DOGS
Home Team: Saint John Sea Dogs
Playoff Record: 9-1
Record at Home: 5-1
Record on Road: 4-0
Power Play: 28.3%
Penalty Kill: 84.5%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Michael Kirkpatrick (10GP-8G-11A-19Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 17-11
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).
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 1-0.
GAME 1: Friday, April 16 – Victoriaville Tigres 2 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 4
GAME 2: Saturday, April 17 - 8pm @ Harbour Station
GAME 3: Tuesday, April 20 - 8pm @ Desjardins Coliseum
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
Saint John is 3-1 all-time in game two games following a game one win.
SAINT JOHN LINEUP NOTES
Kevin Gagne is expected to miss tonight’s game with a knee injury. Tim Roszell said yesterday on The Afternoon News with Tom Young that the defenseman likely will not return until game four.
Steven Anthony returned to the Saint John lineup last night after missing most of the post-season with a groin injury. Aiden Kelly sat out in exchange for Anthony.
Chuckie Schembri, Tyrone Sock, and Will Johnston were all healthy scratches Friday.
COACHES CORNER
Saint John head coach Gerard Gallant in the Telegraph-Journal:
"They really played well in the first and completely controlled us. We played too much of the first period in our zone and we didn't get the puck out, and finally we started chipping pucks past their defencemen and started getting some odd-man rushes and putting some pressure on them.''
REMEMBER...
A reminder that there is no game tomorrow (Sunday). The game originally scheduled for Sunday, April 18, at 4:00 pm is the tilt that is taking place tonight at 8:00 pm. All Sunday bought tickets will be honored at the door.
Fans can also get a full refund at the Harbour Station box office up until puck drop.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES?
If you’re a glass half empty kind of person, a Saint John loss tonight could end a fun season for Saint John fans. With the next three games on the road, a Tigres win could mean that this is the final home game the season for the Dogs.
SWAG
According to Friday’s Telegraph-Journal, Grannan's is handing out 3,000 $5 gift cards to Mexicali Rosa's and the team will be handing out noisemakers.
WHO TO WATCH
Victoriaville – Brandon Hynes
Had the Tigres’ first goal and could have had a few others if it wasn’t for Marco Cousineau in the Saint John goal.
Saint John – Jonathan Huberdeau
His goal-per-game pace was stopped last night as he couldn’t find the back of the net. The young stud played a solid game though, and may not be denied tonight.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- If you cannot attend tonight’s game, check out the La Nouvelle/L’Union website for in game pictures.
- Last night’s attendance of 5,217 was the largest of the post-season so far.
- Saint John is on an eight game winning streak. Their last loss was in game two of the first round against the PEI Rocket.
- The Sea Dogs’ only playoff loss so far this year was in a game two game at Harbour Station.
- Michael Kirkpatrick and Nicholas Petersen are both on seven game point scoring streaks. In that span, Kirkpatrick has seven goals and seven assists while Petersen has three goals and 12 assists.
- Kirkpatrick currently leads the league in playoff scoring with 19 points.
- Jonathan Huberdeau still sits third in the league in goals scored with nine.
THE RINK
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297
Playoff Average Attendance: 4,427
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 4,140
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: 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 Sea Dogs hit the road for game three in Victoriaville on Tuesday. Game time is 8:00 pm.
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