GAME DAY
Saint John Sea Dogs vs Rimouski Oceanic
Tonight, March 10, 2011, 8:30 pm
Colisee de Rimouski
RIMOUSKI, Que. – For the first and only time this regular season, the Saint John Sea Dogs travel to Rimouski to take on the Oceanic at 8:30 pm tonight. It is the Sea Dogs’ first game at Colisee de Rimouski since November 1, 2009.
The Sea Dogs and Oceanic have met earlier this season, a 5-3 Saint John victory at Harbour Station on October 12. Michael Kirkpatrick scored twice while Aidan Kelly, Stanislav Galiev, and Nathan Beaulieu added singles. Current Halifax Mooseheads netminder Frederic Piche made 25 saves in net for the victory.
Meanwhile, Rimouski had a pair of goals from Jakub Culek and a solo marker from Jerome Gauthier-Leduc. Philippe Tremblay made 39 stops in the loss.
A lot has changed since the matchup, though, as the two teams have headed in opposite directions. The Sea Dogs will finish the regular season as the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s best team while the Oceanic are still fighting for playoff positioning and currently hold the No. 13 spot.
With a record of 29-30-1-2, Rimouski can still finish the season above .500 with six games left to play. It has been a disappointing season for the Oceanic who were predicted to be a much better team to the season's start.
Things won’t get any easier for the Oceanic this evening as they host the top-ranked team in the country. Saint John enters play with a Canadian Hockey League best record of 53-6-1-2. The Dogs have won three straight and are 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 games.
Having already won the Maritime Division and the Jean Rougeau Trophy, the Sea Dogs have six games left to prepare for the opening round of the playoffs.
HEAD-TO-HEAD NUMBERS
| Saint John | Rimouski | |
| Record | 53-6-1-2 (1st Maritimes) | 29-30-1-2 (5th Telus East) |
| Home Record | - - - | 17-12-0-2 |
| Road Record | 23-6-0-1 | - - - |
| Streak | 3-0-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Last 10 | 9-1-0-0 | 5-4-0-1 |
| Goals For | 297 | 207 |
| Goals Against | 152 | 216 |
| Overall PP | 24.8% (5th) | 24.4% (6th) |
| Home PP | - - - | 27.5% (3rd) |
| Road PP | 27.0% (4th) | - - - |
| Overall PK | 83.2% (1st) | 78.9% (9th) |
| Home PK | - - - | 80.1% (10th) |
| Road PK | 79.5% (10th) | - - - |
| PIM/GAME | 13.3 (13th) | 14.5 (9th) |
NOTES: The Sea Dogs are led offensively by Jonathan Huberdeau who has 96 points in 61 games. He has six games left to try and become the best Sea Dog in team history to crack the 100-point mark… Huberdeau leads the team in goals with 38 on the season. Zack Phillips is a close second with 36… Huberdeau also leads the squad in assists with 58. Phillips is second with 54… Saint John already has four 30-goal scorers in Huberdeau, Phillips, Stanislav Galiev, and Tomas Jurco. Michael Kirkpatrick needs one more goal to join that club… Kirkpatrick also needs just one more assist to join Huberdeau and Phillips in the 50 assist club… Phillips is fifth in the league in power play goals with 15… Mike Thomas is seventh in shorthanded goals with three… Jurco, Galiev, and Phillips are all tied for third in game winning goals with seven… Phillips is ninth in first goals with seven… Jurco is tied for the league lead in insurance goals with seven… Huberdeau is a league best plus-55… 38-2-0-1 when scoring first… 9-2-0-1 against the Telus East this season… averaging 4.79 goals per game… averaging 2.45 goals against per game… averaging 36.71 shots per game… averaging 27.03 shots against per game… Stanislav Galiev has scored in three straight games… Michael Kirkpatrick has gotten a point in nine straight road games.
PROBABLE STARTER: Mathieu Corbeil will likely get the start in net this evening for Saint John. With the Sea Dogs, Corbeil has a record of 9-1-1-0, a goals against average of 2.33, and a save percentage of 0.898. Overall this season, the Columbus Blue Jackets prospect is 16-16-1-1 with a GAA of 3.27 and a SV% of 0.876.
LAST GAME: Saint John is coming off an 8-0 blowout win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Saturday at Harbour Station. Alexandre Beauregard had a hat trick while Simon Despres, Zack Phillips, Jonathan Huberdeau, Tomas Jurco, and Stanislav Galiev all added singles. Jacob DeSerres made 18 saves in net.
NOTES: The Rimouski Oceanic are led by Felix Lefrancois who has 67 points in 59 games played this season… Lefrancois leads the Oceanic in goals with 26 on the year. Alex Belzile is second in the team in markers with 25… Lefrancois also leads the squad in assists with 41… Patrick Delisle-Houde is a team worst -22 this season… Gleason Fournier is 13th in the league in power play goals with 11. Alex Emond is 16th with 10… Lefrancois is 12th in power play assists with 20… Casey Babineau is 12th in shorthanded assists with two… Gleason Fournier is second in the league in power play goals by a defensemen with 11… Fournier is third amongst defensemen in power play points with 29… 15-11-0-1 when scoring first… 6-7-0-0 against the Maritimes Division this season… averaging 3.34 goals per game… averaging 3.48 goals against per game… averaging 28.10 shots per game… averaging 30.58 shots against per game.
PROBABLE STARTER: Morgan Clark has played the most minutes in net for the Oceanic this season. The Western Hockey League castoff has a record of 13-11-0-2, a goals against average of 2.71, and a save percentage of 0.905. He was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 2008.
LAST GAME: The Oceanic are coming off a 6-2 win over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens last Friday. Jerome Gautier-Leduc scored twice while Gleason Fournier, Patrick Delisle-Houde, Alex Belzile, and Jarred Struthers each added singles. Morgan Clark made 34 saves in the win.
Best Oceanic Video We Could Find: That Sidney Crosby guy once played junior hockey in Rimouski.
OTHER GAMES TODAY
Rouyn-Noranda at Shawinigan - 7:00 PM EST
THE RINK
Venue: Colisee de Rimouski
Capacity: 5,062
Average Attendance: 3,444
QMJHL Arena Guide
MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, Journal L’Advantage
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 Dogs head back to New Brunswick to take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan tomorrow at 7:30 pm at the KC Irving Regional Centre.
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