WHO: PEI Rocket vs Saint John Sea Dogs
WHEN: Tonight, 7:00 pm
WHERE: Harbour Station
VISITING TEAM: PEI Rocket
Record: 15-14-1-1 (4th in Maritimes Division)
Last Game: 3-2 loss vs Saint John yesterday
Leading Scorer: Andrej Nestrasil (26GP-10G-21A-31Pts)
Notes: The Prince Edward Island Rocket are coming into action tonight with a 15-14-1-1 record which places them fourth in the Maritimes Division and 20 points back of the division leading Saint John Sea Dogs. They are eight points back of the second place Moncton Wildcats and Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The Rocket currently sit 12th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League… the Rocket are coming off a 3-2 home loss against the Sea Dogs at the Charlottetown Civic Centre last night. Matthew Hobbs scored on a point shot and Philippe Paradis batted in a rebound for the only Rocket goals. Evan Mosher was terrific in goal, making 42 saves in the loss. PEI played well and could have taken the win away from Saint John if not for a late game winning goal by Simon Despres… the Rocket are 3-6-1-0 in their last 10 games and are coming off a loss… PEI’s power play has had its struggles this season. They are currently ranked 15th in the 18 team QMJHL with a rating of 0.165. The team went one-for-two last night… the Rocket penalty kill is ranked fifth overall in the league with a rating of 0.814. On the road though, that rating increases to 0.824… former Victoriaville Tigres forward Andrej Nestrasil is currently the Rocket’s leading scorer. He has 31 points in 26 games this season… Samuel Morneau leads PEI in goals with 16 in 30 matches… Nestrasil also leads the Rocket in assists with 21… Philippe Paradis is a team best +14… Morneau’s two shorthanded goals this season place him sixth in the category… Ben Duffy is tied for fourth in the league in game winning goals with four… Adam Polasek is tied for the league lead in shorthanded assists with three… Evan Mosher is the Rocket’s number one netminder. The 20-year old has a record of 11-12-1-1, a goals against average of 2.92, and a save percentage of 0.912. His GAA places him ninth in the league and his SV% is good for third in the league. He also has the 11th most wins of any QMJHL goaltender this season. Mosher was excellent in last night’s 3-2 Rocket loss… the Rocket are 8-8-0-1 on the road this season and have been outscored 63-50 along the way. PEI is 0-1-0-0 at Harbour Station this season.
HOME TEAM: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 25-3-0-2 (1st in Maritimes Division)
Last Game: 3-2 win at PEI yesterday
Leading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (30GP-21G-25A-46Pts)
Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs enter action tonight with a record of 25-3-0-2 which is good for first place in the Maritimes Division and good enough for a 12-point lead over the second place Acadie-Bathurst Titan and Moncton Wildcats. The Sea Dogs are currently two-points ahead the Montreal Juniors for first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League… Saint John was ranked second in last week’s edition of the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings… the Sea Dogs are coming off a 3-2 road victory over the PEI Rocket last night in Charlottetown. Jonathan Huberdeau, Zach Phillips,and Simon Despres all scored for Saint John. Frederic Piche was solid in net, putting in a performance that was needed in order to get a win. It wasn’t the greatest game for Saint John. They dominated at times but allowed the Rocket to stay in the game at others. They will try to correct that tonight… Saint John comes into tonight’s game on a nine game winning streak. They have also picked up 31 of a possible 32 points over the last 16 games. The team has not lost in regulation since a 5-1 loss in Bathurst on October 22… the Dogs continue to lead the league in goals scored with 149 in 30 contests for an average of 4.96 goals per-game… the team has also allowed the fewest amount of goals this year with 78 against for a per-game average of 2.6… the Sea Dogs have been dominant at Harbour Station this season. The team is 15-0-0-1 at home and has yet to lose a regulation game. They are averaging 5.3 goals per home contest… Saint John’s power play has been pretty good of late. They still sit seventh in the league with a rating of 0.230… the team’s penalty kill is ranked sixth in the league with a rating of 0.810… Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Sea Dogs in scoring with 46 points this season… Zach Phillips leads the team in goals with 22 in 30 games. He was named the QMJHL’s second star of the week Monday… Michael Kirkpatrick leads the team in helpers with 26 on the year… Huberdeau still leads the league in plus/minus with a +34 rating. Six of the top 10 plus/minus leaders play for Saint John… Phillips is tied with Jonathan Hazen of the Val-d’Or Foreurs for the most power play goals scored this season with nine… Phillips also leads the league in game winning goals with six… Stanislav Galiev, Huberdeau, and Tomas Jurco are all tied for tops in the QMJHL with four insurance goals each… Jacob DeSerres will likely get the start in goal for the Sea Dogs tonight. The 20-year old has a record of 9-1-0-0, a goals against average of 2.60, and a save percentage of 0.904. DeSerres is coming off a 5-2 win over the Gatineau Olympiques Saturday at Harbour Station.
TICKET SPECIAL
All upper bowl tickets for tonight’s game at Harbour Station can be purchased for just $6.00. Every Wednesday game this season has this promotion.
MIXED RESULTS
The Sea Dogs are 3-0-0-0 against the Rocket so far this season. But last season, PEI managed to defeat the regular season champs three times. Saint John won the season series 5-3.
Here are the results:
Sep 23, 2009: PEI Rocket 6 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 1GOOD LUCK HORSE
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
With Simon Despres leaving this weekend for Team Canada's world junior selection camp in Toronto, this could be his last home game for some time.
ARENA INFO
Venue: Harbour Station
Seating Capacity: 6,297
Year Built: 1993
QMJHL Arena Guide
MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Live Blog: Station Nation
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, The Guardian
Follow Station Nation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/station_nation for in-game updates, scores, stats, and live coverage during tonight’s game.
AFTER THE BUZZER
The Sea Dogs travel to the United States of America on Friday to tangle with Lewiston MAINEiacs.
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