Friday, April 6, 2012

PLAYOFF GAMEDAY 5: vs Drakkar

GAMEDAY
Round 2, Game 1
Baie-Comeau Drakkar vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Tonight at 7:30pm
Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live Blog: SN
Harbour Station – Saint John, NB


SERIES STATUS
This is Game 1 of the best-of-seven quarter-final playoff series.

PREVIEW
SAINT JOHN – It’s been awhile.

March 28th was the last time the Saint John Sea Dogs played a hockey game. The Baie-Comeau Drakkar haven’t played since March 28th, either. So yeah, it’s been awhile since either of these teams have hit the ice for a game.

Tonight, they return to action as they faceoff in Game 1 of their quarter-final playoff series. It’s a matchup not many would have predicted a few weeks ago with the Drakkar taking on the heavily favoured Victoriaville Tigres in the opening round. But after a shocking sweep of the Tigres, here they are, ready to battle the No. 1 nationally ranked team in the country in the second round.

Baie-Comeau is a bit of a mystery entering this series. The factthat  they swept the Tigres, the highest scoring team in the regular season, is a bit alarming. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle the Dogs and their powerful offense tonight and in the series.

The Drakkar do have some familiar players. They are led by the likes David Rose, Jonathan Lessard, Tomas Filippi and Carl Gelinas. Rookie netminder Philippe Cadorette has played every minute in goal for Baie-Comeau this post-season.

Saint John dominated most of their first round series against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, outscoring them 34-8 in four games. Charlie Coyle had more goals than the entire Screaming Eagles team in the series. He’s currently tied with the Armada's Jess Tanguy for the playoff scoring lead with 13 points.

The Sea Dogs and Drakkar haven’t played each other since November. Saint John won the season series 3-0.

This series has a similar feel to it as last year’s quarter-finals did when the Dogs faced the Tigres. Victoriaville, like Baie-Comeau this season, was coming off a surprising sweep in the first round. The Tigres certainly gave the Dogs a challenge but were ultimately defeated in five games. Can Cadorette be this year’s David Honzik?

It’s been a long wait – but the wait ends tonight. Game 1 is just hours away.


THE NUMBERS - REGULAR SEASON

Baie-ComeauSaint John
Record29-34-1-4 (6th East)50-15-0-3 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record- - -28-5-0-1
Road Record11-21-1-1- - -
Goals For217298
Goals Against241180
Goals/Game3.15 (15th)4.34 (2nd)
GA/Game3.50 (8th)2.62 (16th)
Shots/Game30.7 (5th)32.99 (3rd)
SA/GAME28.08 (4th)26.60 (1st)
PIM/GAME15.8 (9th)16.6 (6th)
Scoring First20-8-1-135-3-0-0
Overall PP23.4% (6th)23.8% (5th)
Home PP- - -23.4% (6th)
Road PP24.5% (3rd)- - -
Overall PK79.3% (7th)81.1% (5th)
Home PK- - -84.6% (4th)
Road PK73.8% (13th)- - -

LEADING SCORERS - REGULAR SEASON
Baie-Comeau
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
David Rose67174562
Carl Gelinas63253661
Tomas Filippi60193453

Saint John
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
Danick Gauthier66473986
Zack Phillips60305080
Jonathan Huberdeau37304272

GOALTENDERS - REGULAR SEASON
Baie-Comeau
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Philippe Cadorette8-10-0-03.050.898
Jimmy Appleby10-15-1-33.850.866

Saint John
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Mathieu Corbeil37-10-0-12.380.911
Sebastien Auger14-2-0-22.650.897

PLAYOFF SERIES
GAME ONE – Friday, April 6: 7:30 p.m. @ Harbour Station
GAME TWO – Saturday, April 7: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
GAME THREE – Tuesday, April 10: 8:30 p.m. @ Centre Henry-Leonard
GAME FOUR – Wednesday, April 11: 8:30 p.m. @ Centre Henry-Leonard
*GAME FIVE – Friday, April 13: 8:30 p.m. @ Centre Henry-Leonard
*GAME SIX – Monday, April 16: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*GAME SEVEN – Tuesday, April 17: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station
*If Necessary

SEASON SERIES
November 4 – Saint John 7 at Baie-Comeau 0
November 5 – Saint John 3 at Baie-Comeau 2
November 13 – Baie-Comeau 3 at Saint John 5

NOTES
  • Sea Dogs defenseman Ian Saab will serve the final game of his suspension tonight.
  • Drakkar forward Raphael Bussieres will miss the first two games of this series due to a suspension.
  • Baie-Comeau's power play is running at 36.8% in the playoffs, a league high.
  • Saint John's penalty kill is operating at a league best 93.3% in the playoffs.
  • David Rose leads the Drakkar in playoff scoring with three goals and five assists for eight points. 

OTHER GAMES
Halifax at Quebec - 7:00 PM EDT
Rimouski at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:30 PM EDT
Chicoutimi at Shawinigan - 8:00 PM EDT

NEXT GAME
Game 2 of the series is tomorrow night at 7pm at Harbour Station.

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