GAME DAY
WHO: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Baie-Comeau Drakkar
WHEN: Tonight, 8:30 pm
WHERE: Henry Leonard Centre
VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 35-5-1-2 (1st in Atlantic Division)
Last Game: 3-2 overtime loss vs Drummondville Saturday
Leading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (43GP-27G-40A-67Pts)
Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs enter Baie-Comeau tonight with a record of 35-5-1-2 which is good for top spot on the Maritimes Division and first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Sea Dogs hold the division lead with comfort as they have a 10-point lead over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Saint John is two points up on the Quebec Remparts for the overall lead in the QMJHL… in the latest edition of the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings, the Sea Dogs were ranked first… Saint John is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss against the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Saturday night at Harbour Station. The Sea Dogs didn’t play a bad game, but didn’t play the kind of game that they are fully capable of. Stanislav Galiev had both goals for the Dogs while Mathieu Corbeil made 27 saves in goal. Notably, Saint John went 0-for-6 on the man advantage… the Sea Dogs are 14-5-0-1 away from home this season with all of their regulation loses coming while being on the road. They have earned 29-of-a-possible-40 points away from Harbour Station. The Dogs have outscored their opposition 90-61 on the road this season… the Sea Dogs have the seventh best power play in the league with a rating of 24%. On the road, they are operating at 28.4%, which is the second best road power play in the league… on the penalty kill, Saint John is ranked sixth with a rating of 80.8%. On the road, they are running at 76.4%... Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Sea Dogs in points this season with 67 in 43 games… Zack Phillips and Huberdeau sit tied for the team high in goals with 27 on the year… Huberdeau leads the club in assists with 40 while Phillips is second with 35 and Michael Kirkpatrick is third with 32… Phillips is second in the league in power play goals with 12… Mike Thomas is fourth in the league in shorthanded goals with three… Phillips is third in the QMJHL in game winning goals with six… Steven Anthony is tied for top spot in the league in terms of insurance goals with five… Huberdeau is a league best +39… Kirkpatrick has taken the second most dangerous shots of any player in the league with 124… goaltender Jacob DeSerres will likely get the start in net tonight. He has a record of 16-2-0-0, a goals against average of 2.33, and a save percentage of 0.918. DeSerres has the second best GAA in the league, is second in save percentage, and eighth in wins… Saint John is averaging a league high 4.74 goals per game. They are also allowing the fewest goals per game with an average of 2.58… the Sea Dogs are averaging a league high 36.65 shots per game… Simon Despres is on a four game road point scoring streak… 8-1-1-0 in their last 10 games and have gotten at least a point in their last seven contests.
Record: 7-31-5-4 (6th in Telus East Division)
Last Game: 5-2 win at Rimouski Saturday
Leading Scorer: Lukas Cingel (47GP-14G-20A-34Pts)
Notes: The Baie-Comeau Drakkar enter action this evening with a record of 7-31-5-4 which places them last in the Telus East Division and second last in the entire Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They currently join the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies as the only teams who would miss the playoffs. With 21 games remaining on their schedule, they sit six points back of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles for the final playoff spot… the Drakkar are coming off one of their seven wins of the season with a 5-2 victory in Rimouski last Saturday. Hugo Laporte, Felix Girard, Lukas Cingel, Alexandre Durette, and Alexandre Larouche all scored for the Drakkar in the road win. Goaltender Jason Missiaen made 28 stops in the win. Baie-Comeau went two-for-five on the power play… the Drakkar are 3-15-2-2 at the Henry Leonard Centre this season, earning 10 of their total 23 points at home. They have been outscored 83-50 at home this season… the Drakkar have the worst power play in the league with a rating of just 10.6%. At home, they are operating at 10.5%... Baie-Comeau’s penalty kill is decent and sits ninth in the league with a rating of 78.5%. At home, they are running at 79.1%... rookie Lukas Cingel leads the Drakkar in scoring this season with 34 points in 47 games played… Cingel also leads the team in goals with 14 on the year while Raphael Bussieres sits a close second with 13… a Saint John favourite, Hugo Laporte, leads the team in assists with 19 on the year. Since being traded to Baie-Comeau, Laporte has two goals and two assists in five games… Gabriel Verpaelst is tied for third in league penalty minutes with 104 in 45 games… with 34 points, Cingel sits sixth in rookie scoring… Laporte sits second in the QMJHL in minor penalty minutes served with 34… goaltender Jason Missiaen has played the most minutes in goal for the Drakkar this season. He has a record of 6-21-4-3, a goals against average of 3.29, and a save percentage of 0.893. He is tied for the league lead in loses with 21… the Drakkar are 5-9-2-2 when scoring first… Baie-Comeau is averaging the second fewest goals per game with an average of 2.26… the Drakkar are allowing the fifth most goals per game with an average of 3.96… 3-6-1-0 in their last 10 games and are coming off a win.
Last season, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar gave the Sea Dogs fits in their two meetings. An unreal Drakkar goaltending performance and Michael Kirkpatrick’s legendary miracle goal did, however, get Saint John two wins over Baie-Comeau last year.
Here is a recap of last season’s action from a previous SN post:
On Saint John’s 22-game streak of pure awesomeness, the Drakkar gave the Sea Dogs not one, but two scares.AN OLD FRIEND
The first was on October 30, 2009 when Michael Kirkpatrick’s miracle goal off a faceoff at 19:58 of the third period at the Henry Leonard Centre tied the match. Kirkpatrick would then win the game in a shootout to give Saint John an unlikely 3-2 victory.
Move ahead a couple weeks to November 12, 2009, former Sea Dogs goaltending prospect Simon Giroux put on one of the sickest goaltending performances of the year. Giroux allowed just three goals on 54 shots in the loss. His Drakkar team would fire just 19 shots – six of them being considered dangerous – on Sea Dogs netminder Karel St. Laurent.
Giroux’s performance saw him plastered in the Telegraph-Journal the next day sitting next to a trash can (which can be seen above).
Pierre Durepos scored his first career goal in the second period which would prove to be the winner as Saint John went on to win their 12th straight match 4-2. The crowd of 2,671 was, and still is, one of the lowest in franchise history.
An old friend of Sea Dogs fans, Hugo Laporte, was swapped to Baie-Comeau during the holiday trading period. Laprte has two goals and two assists in five games with Baie-Comeau this season.
The full story of #BooLaporte can be found HERE.
NOTES
- This will be the first game back for the four Sea Dogs who took part in the Top Prospects Game in Toronto this past week.
- This is the first game of a three-in-three Quebec road swing for the Dogs. They play in Chicoutimi tomorrow and in Quebec City on Sunday.
- The Drakkar lost 25 consecutive games earlier this season. The streak stretched from September 17 to November 21.
- GoDrakkarGo.com is a great site to get your Drakkar fix.
- Baie-Comeau travels to Saint John next weekend for a pair of games.
AT THE BIG SHOW
Look what was spotted at Boston Bruins game earlier this season:
ARENA INFO
Venue: Centre Henry Leonard
Seating Capacity: 3,042
Average Attendance: 1,652 (16th)
Year Built: 1997
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, SaintJohnSeaDogs.com
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 Chicoutimi tomorrow to play Guillaume Cloutier and the Sagueneens at 5:00 pm.
No comments:
Post a Comment