GAME DAY
Saint John Sea Dogs vs Gatineau Olympiques
Tonight, February 25, 2011, 8:30 pm
Robert Guertin Arena
GATINEAU, Que. – The Gatineau Olympiques will be looking to make a statement this evening.
Currently sitting seventh overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with a record of 34-16-3-5, the Olympiques host the top-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League at 8:30 pm at The Bob. Gatineau has had a good season despite a number of injuries to key players. But with the injured starting to heal and after some deadline dealing, the Olympiques are surely trying and prove they can tango with the big boys.
Gatineau sits fourth in the tough Telus West Division and has Montreal, Drummondville, and Shawinigan parked ahead of them. The team is 4-3-1-2 in their last 10 games.
On the other side, the Sea Dogs enter this evening’s tilt on a serious hot streak. Saint John has won a league high 14 straight games going into tonight’s match and have not lost in regulation in 21 games. Their last regulation loss came on December 30 in Bathurst.
This is the second meeting of the year between the Dogs and ‘Piques. On December 4, Saint John downed the Olympiques 5-2 at Harbour Station. Tomas Jurco had two goals while Stanislav Galiev, Stephen MacAulay, and Zack Phillips added singles. Goaltender Jacob DeSerres made 25 saves on the win.
Tonight’s match will also see two of the league’s top point getters go head-to-head. Philip-Michael Devos leads the league in points with 94 while Jonathan Huberdeau is third with 87 points.
The game kicks off a three-in-three Quebec road trip for the Sea Dogs, a trek that will see them play three consecutive contests against above .500 teams. It will be a good test for the team as they prepare for the playoffs.
HEAD-TO-HEAD NUMBERS
| Saint John | Gatineau | |
| Record | 49-5-1-2 (1st Maritimes) | 34-16-3-5 (4th Telus West) |
| Home Record | - - - | 19-8-1-1 |
| Road Record | 21-5-0-1 | - - - |
| Streak | 20-0-1-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Last 10 | 10-0-0-0 | 4-3-1-2 |
| Goals For | 273 | 198 |
| Goals Against | 140 | 167 |
| Overall PP | 24.5% (7th) | 21.6% (10th) |
| Home PP | - - - | 20.5% (10th) |
| Road PP | 28.0% (2nd) | - - - |
| Overall PK | 82.8% (2nd) | 77.7% (13th) |
| Home PK | - - - | 77.5% (14th) |
| Road PK | 77.8% (12th) | - - - |
| PIM/GAME | 13.3 (13th) | 12.6 (14th) |
NOTES: The Sea Dogs are led offensively by Jonathan Huberdeau who has 87 points in 56 games this season. Zack Phillips is second with 81 points in 56 matches… Huberdeau leads the team in goals with 36… Huberdeau leads the club in assists with 51… Phillips is fourth in the league in power play goals with 14… Mike Thomas is sixth in shorthanded goals with three… Phillips is fourth in game winning goals with seven… Phillips is sixth in first goals scored with seven… Tomas Jurco is tied for the league lead in insurance goals with seven. Steven Anthony is eighth with five… Huberdeau is a league best +52. The nest closest competitor is Sean Couturier who is a +45… Ryan Tesink is 11th in rookie scoring with 28 points… Simon Despres is seventh in shorthanded assists with two… Michael Kirkpatrick is second in the league in dangerous shots taken with 165. Huberdeau is third with 139… Nathan Beaulieu is second amongst QMJHL defenseman in shots on goal with 55… 34-2-0-1 when scoring first… 10-1-1-1 against the Telus West Division so far this year… lead the league in goals for per game with an average of 4.79… averaging a league low 2.46 goals against per game… lead the league in shots per game with an average of 36.82… allowing the fifth fewest shots against per game with an average of 27.21… Stanislav Galiev has scored in four straight games… Simon Despres has taken a penalty minute in six straight games… Michael Kirkpatrick has scored in three straight road games… Zack Phillips has recorded an assist in 10 straight road games… Jonathan Huberdeau is on a 9-game road point scoring streak.
PROBABLE STARTER: Jacob DeSerres will likely get the start in goal as the never-ending goaltending rotation continues. DeSerres has a record of 23-2-0-0, a goals against average of 2.23, and a save percentage of 0.917. He is second in the league in GAA and save percentage.
LAST GAME: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-1 win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Tuesday night at Harbour Station. Michael Kirkpatrick, Nathan Beaulieu, Tomas Jurco, and Stanislav Galiev all scored in the win. Mathieu Corbeil made 22 saves in net.
NOTES: The Olympiques are led offensively by the most dangerous player in the QMJHL: Philip-Michael Devos. The 20-year old leads the league in scoring with 94 points in 58 games. Since being traded to Gatineau, Devos has 10 goals and 11 assists in 17 games… Devos leads the team in goals with 39… Devos also leads the club in helpers with 55… Jean-Gabriel Pageau is second in points, goals, and assists. He has 29 goals and 65 points in 58 games this year… Pageau is ninth in the league in power play goals with 11… Devos is fifth in power play assists with 23… Devos is second in the QMJHL in shorthanded goals with five… Pageau is eighth in the league in game winning goals with six… Devos is fourth in insurance goals with six… Nicolas Deslauriers is tied for the league lead in game winning goals by a defenseman with four… 25-7-1-3 when scoring first… 8-3-1-1 against the Maritime Division this season… averaging 3.41 goals per game… averaging 2.88 goals against per game… averaging 28.43 shots on goal per game… averaging a league low 24.83 shots against per game.
PROBABLE STARTER: Maxime Clermont is expected to start in goal this evening. Clermont has a record of 25-10-1-4, a goals against average of 2.53, and a save percentage of 0.898.
LAST GAME: The Olympiques are coming off a 2-1 win in Baie-Comeau on Sunday. Mitchell Porowski and Philippe Halley each scored for the winners. Former Cape Breton Screaming Eagles goaltender Francois Lacerte made 17 saves for the victory.
Best Olympiques Video We Could Find: This happened 15 seconds in to Game Three of the quarter-finals last season with the Sea Dogs in Gatineau. Mike Hoffman’s elbow had him ejected from the match.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Olympiques captain Hubert Labrie scored four goals and added 16 assists in 67 contests for his squad last season. He suffered a knee injury this past fall in training camp. He hasn’t been back since.
Tonight, Labrie will return to the ‘Piques lineup for the first time in almost a year.
OTHER GAMES TODAY
PEI at Cape Breton - 7:00 PM AST
Victoriaville at Québec - 7:00 PM EST
Rimouski at Montréal - 7:05 PM EST
Lewiston at Drummondville - 7:30 PM EST
Acadie-Bathurst at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:30 PM EST
Moncton at Val-d'Or - 7:30 PM EST
THE RINK
Venue: Robert Guertin Arena
Capacity: 4,906
Average Attendance: 2,496
QMJHL Arena Guide
MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation
Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) for live in game coverage. All tweets will also appear in the SN Live Blog that is posted on this site.
AFTER THE BUZZER
The second game of this three-in-three road trip goes tomorrow evening at 5:00 pm in Victoriaville.
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