PRE-GAME: Game Two vs Gatineau

GAME DAY
2010 Presidents Cup Playoffs – Round Two
Game Two: Gatineau Olympiques vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Friday, April 3, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Harbour Station

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

PRE-GAME PREVIEW
It wasn’t a perfect game one for the Saint John Sea Dogs – but it got the job done.

The Sea Dogs took the series opener by score of 7-4 over the Gatineau Olympiques last night at Harbour Station. It was a penalty filled affair that saw 11 extra man advantages take place and five power play goals.

Saint John jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead, but penalties allowed the number two team in the country to break loose of their game plan. Despite a Gatineau comeback, the Dogs would hang on for the win.

Both teams will look to stay out of the box tonight in game two. This is a huge game for Gatineau as the series shifts back to the Ottawa region on Tuesday.

PREDICTIONS
Most predictions have Saint John winning the series in four or five games.

GET TO KNOW THE OLYMPIQUES
Visiting Team: Gatineau Olympiques

Playoff Record: 4-4
Record at Home: 1-2
Record on Road: 3-2
Power Play: 32.5%
Penalty Kill: 76.7%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Alex Noel (8GP-0G-8A-8Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 214-161

Reg. Season Record: 30-33-1-4 (3rd Telus East, 12th QMJHL)
Record vs Saint John: 0-3-0-0
Record at Home: 18-12-1-3 (10th)
Record on the Road: 12-21-0-1 (13th)
Power Play: 18.2%
Penalty Kill: 82.1%

Reg. Season Leading Scorer: Tye McGinn (50GP-27G-35A-62P)

NHL Draft Picks: Hubert Labrie (Dallas)

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

Playoff Record: 5-1
Record at Home: 3-1
Record on Road: 2-0
Power Play: 30.3%
Penalty Kill: 80%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Stanislav Galiev (6GP-4G-6A-10Pts) and Michael Kirkpatrick (6GP-3G-7A-10Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 13-11-0

Reg. Season Record: 53-12-1-2 (1st Atlantic, 1st QMJHL)
Record vs Gatineau: 3-0-0-0
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 3-0.

December 5, 2009: Gatineau Olympiques 0 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 2
January 24, 2010: Saint John Sea Dogs 8 @ Gatineau Olympiques 0
February 24, 2010: Saint John Sea Dogs 7 @ Gatineau Olympiques 5

Olympiques leading scorer vs Saint John: Christian Ouellet (3GP-1G-2A-3Pts)
Sea Dogs leading scoring against Gatineau: Tomas Jurco (3GP-3G-2A-5Pts), Zach Phillips (3GP-2G-3A-5Pts) and Michael Kirkpatrick (3GP-1G-4A-5Pts)

SERIES RESULTS
Saint John leads the series 1-0.

April 2, 2010: Game One – Gatineau Olympiques 4 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 7 (First Star: Stanislav Galiev)

TALE OF THE TAPE
No fights between the two during the regular season.

CRAZY FACT
Last night was first 2010 playoff home game for Saint John that featured more than 4,300 fans. All three home games in the first round saw between 4,200 and 4,300 enter the building.

SAINT JOHN LINEUP NOTES
Steven Anthony is questionable with a groin injury and has not played so far in the playoffs… Kevin Gagne will not play tonight due to a knee injury.

Saint John still has call-ups Chuckie Schembri, Tyrone Sock, and Will Johnston on their roster. They were all scratched last night.

Johnston is not eligible to play due to a MJAHL suspension.

COACHES CORNER
Saint John head coach Gerard Gallant on the Sea Dogs’ Twitter page:

“We're happy with the result but not our overall performance. We'll definitely be better tomorrow."

Gatineau head coach John Chabot in the Telegraph-Journal:

"I think both teams would like to be able to dictate the game a little bit more and not have someone else take it out of our hands. I'm looking forward to a better second game.”

WHO TO WATCH
Gatineau – Hugo Laporte
Was booed every time he touched the puck last night following his acting performance on a knee-on-knee hit with Mike Thomas. Thomas was tossed from the game.

Saint John – Mike Hoffman
Although he had a goal last night, the QMJHL game sheet stated that Hoffman didn’t have a shot on goal until the third period. That will not happen two consecutive times.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Stanislav Galiev set a playoff team record for points in one game last night with five.
• Alex Noel told L’Acadie Nouvelle that he thought his team was nervous going into the game. The PEI Rocket said the same thing following game one of the first round. The Rocket won game two at Harbour Station.
• All-time, Saint John is 1-0 in round two, game two games.
• It is possible that Mike Thomas will be suspended for his kneeing major last night on Hugo Laporte. Laporte could also face a penalty, however, following a third period shoving match with an official.
• Marco Cousineau allowed four goals on only 19 shots. The News 88.9 post-game show said that he must be better.

THE RINK
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297
Playoff Average Attendance: 4,333
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 4,140

MEDIA RELATIONS
Newspapers: Saint John- Telegraph-Journal; Gatineau- Le Droit, Ottawa Citizen
Radio: Saint John- News 88.9; Gatineau- Tag Radio X
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
Gordon Lightfoot performs at Harbour Station tomorrow.

Game three goes Tuesday night at 8:30 pm in Gatineau.