GAME DAY
WHO: Drummondville Voltigeurs vs Saint John Sea Dogs
WHEN: Tonight, 7:30 pm
WHERE: Harbour Station
VISITING TEAM: Drummondville Voltigeurs
Record: 27-11-5-1 (3rd in Telus West Division)
Last Game: 4-0 win at Cape Breton Wednesday
Leading Scorer: Ondrej Palat (37GP-26G-33A-59Pts)
Notes: The Drummondville Voltigeurs enter action tonight with a record of 27-11-5-1 which is good for a tie for second place in the tough Telus West Division and sixth overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Voltigeurs have 60 points on the year and are tied with the ever improving Gatineau Olympiques for second spot on the Telus West and are just five back of the division leading Montreal Juniors… the Volts were an honourable mention in this week’s edition of the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings… Drummondville is coming off a 4-0 win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Wednesday night at Centre 200. Andrew Randazza had two goals while Sean Couturier and Pier-Antoine Dion each scored as well. Domenic Graham made 22 saves to pick up the shutout win. The Voltigeurs went one-for-two on the power play and fired 35 shots on the Eagles… this is the second game of a rather large Maritime road swing for the Volts. After playing in Cape Breton Wednesday, they now play two straight in Saint John beginning tonight. To close it out, they visit the Moncton Wildcats on Sunday afternoon… 5-3-2-0 in their last 10 games and have earned at least a point in their last three contests… the team is 12-7-2-0 away from the Marcel Dionne Centre this season. They have outscored their competition 70-56 in their 21 road contests… Drummondville has the league’s fourth best power play with a rating of 28.8%. On the road, the power play is operating at 27.3% which places them as the third best road team on the man advantage… the Voltigeurs penalty kill is the best in the QMJHL with a rating of 83.2%. On the road though, their penalty kill slips down to sixth in the league with a percentage of 80.5%... Ondrej Palat leads the Volts in scoring this season with 59 points in 37 games. Superstar Sean Couturier is a close second with 56 points in 34 matches… Palat leads the team in goals with 26 on the year… Couturier leads the club in assists with 39 on the year… Palat’s 26 goals place him seventh in the league… Couturier sits third in the league in assists… Palat is four-for-four in the shootout this year… Marc-Olivier Vachon is tied for fourth in the league in shorthanded assists with two. Couturier is third with three… Guillaume Nadeau has played the most minutes in net for the Volts this season. He has a record of 17-5-5-1, a goals against average of 2.27, and a save percentage of 0.891…. Nadeau has played in a league high four shootout wins this season… the Volts are tied with the woeful Baie-Comeau Drakkar for the league high in overtime loses with five… Couturier has recorded a point in eight straight games. He also has an eight game assist streak going… Palat has recorded a point in 15 straight road games.
Record: 34-5-0-2 (1st in Maritimes Division)
Last Game: 3-2 shootout vs PEI Tuesday
Leading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (41GP-27G-38A-65Pts)
Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs come into this evening’s match with a record of 34-5-0-2 which is good for first in the Maritimes Division and tops in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Sea Dogs have a 15-point division lead and a one point lead over the Quebec Remparts for first place in the league… in this week’s BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings, Saint John was once again ranked first… the Dogs are coming off a bizarre 3-2 shootout win over the Prince Edward Island Rocket at Harbour Station on Tuesday night. Michael Kirkpatrick and Tomas Jurco were able to beat the sensational goaltending performance of Evan Mosher in regulation. Mosher faced 67 shots through 65 minutes of action prior to allowing two goals on three shots in the shootout. Saint John goaltender Mathieu Corbeil picked up the win after only facing 17 shots in the tilt… Saint John has been hot of late, winning five straight. Three of those five wins have come in either a shootout or overtime. The Dogs are 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games… the Sea Dogs are still without a regulation loss on home ice this season. They sit at 20-0-0-1 at Harbour Station this year and have outscored the opponents 105-43. They are one of three teams to have scored over 100 goals on home ice this season... the Dogs have the sixth best power play in the league with a rating of 25.1%. At home, they are operating at 22.5%... Saint John’s penalty kill is also ranked sixth in the league with a rating of 81.2%. At home, they are running a penalty kill of 84.9%, which is the third best penalty kill among teams playing on home ice… Jonathan Huberdeau leads the team in points with 65 in 41 contests… Huberdeau and Zack Phillips are tied for the team high in goals with 27… Huberdeau leads the club in assists with 38 on the year… Huberdeau and Phillips are tied for third overall in the QMJHL for goals scored… Huberdeau sits fourth overall in the league in assists… Phillips has the second most power play goals in the QMJHL this season with 12… Steven Anthony is tied for the league high in insurance goals with five… Alexandre Beauregard is tied for sixth in penalty minutes with 87… Ryan Tesink sits 11th in rookie scoring with 22 points… Jacob DeSerres will likely start in goal for Saint John. He has a record of 15-2-0-0, a goals against average of 2.23, and a save percentage of 0.922. His last win was last Saturday in Halifax when the Sea Dogs blew out the Mooseheads 9-2… Saint John is averaging a league high 4.76 goals per game and have allowed a league low 2.54 goals per game… the Sea Dogs lead the league in shots per game. They have an average of 36.88 shots per match.
THE BIG GUNS
Fans at tonight’s game will be treated to a preview of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. According to Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings, five of the top 24 North American skaters will play in tonight’s game.
Sean Couturier is ranked second, Jonathan Huberdeau ranked fourth, Nathan Beaulieu ninth, Zach Phillips 12th, and Tomas Jurco 24th.
THE LAST (UGLY) MEETING
The last meeting between these two teams came on September 25 when the Sea Dogs put in a Team Canada like collapse, blowing a 5-1 second period lead in a 7-6 shootout loss. The defense sucked that night.
Saint John was missing Simon Despres, Stephen MacAulay, and Mike Thomas. All three will play a big role tonight in insuring that does not happen.
Also, Scott Oke of all people had two goals in the September road contest.
THAT COUTURIER GUY
Sean Couturier is kind of good. You may have heard of him.
NOTES
- According to the Telegraph-Journal, defenseman Kevin Gagne will return from an upper body injury tonight. He has missed the last four games.
- Team Canada teammates Simon Despres and Sean Couturier will battle each other tonight.
ARENA INFO
Venue: Harbour Station
Seating Capacity: 6,297
Average Attendance: 3,959
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 and Voltigeurs do battle again tomorrow night at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.
FAN BUS
A Sea Dogs fan bus is hoping to make a trip to Halifax on February 5 to see the Dogs face the Mooseheads. More information can be found HERE.
Photo Credits: Marc Henwood/Station Nation, QMJHL, Google
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