Wednesday, September 26, 2012

GAMEDAY 3 - vs Wildcats

GAMEDAY
Moncton Wildcats vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Tonight at 7pm
Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live Blog: SN
Harbour Station – Saint John, NB
PREVIEW
SAINT JOHN – The “transitioning” Saint John Sea Dogs host the revamped Moncton Wildcats tonight at 7pm at Harbour Station. It’s the first time the two rivals have met this season.

The Sea Dogs and Wildcats have different looks this season compared to last. The teams moved in different directions as Saint John got younger and began rebuilding while Moncton acquired experience and is expected to contend for a league title this year.

There will be plenty of familiar faces in the new look Wildcats lineup though. Alex Dubeau, Yannick Veilleux, and Jonathan Racine all played with the Shawinigan Cataractes last year. Those additions should help the Wildcats and the Moncton-Saint John rivalry.

Moncton hasn’t gotten off to a roaring start. They are 1-1-0-0 following a 6-2 loss to the PEI Rocket in Charlottetown on Friday and a 5-4 shootout win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in Sydney on Sunday.

Not surprisingly, the Saulnier twins and new import forward Dmitri Jaskin have been the biggest offensive contributors so far. Alex Saulnier has three points while Allain and Jaskin have two.

The Sea Dogs are also off to a 1-1-0-0 start. They lost 3-1 to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Thursday at Harbour Station and then defeated the Titan 3-2 in overtime on Friday at the KC Irving Regional Centre.

Saint John’s offense has revolved around its returning veteran players so far. Jonathan Huberdeau and Ryan Tesink each have three points while Kevin Gagne and Stephen MacAulay have two.

Hopefully tonight’s match is a good one. These teams meet again on Sunday in Moncton.

THE NUMBERS
MonctonSaint John
Record1-1-0-0 (6th Maritimes)1-1-0-0 (3rd Maritimes)
Home Record0-0-0-00-1-0-0
Road Record1-1-0-01-0-0-0
Goals For/Game3.36 (7th)1.94 (15th)
Goals Against/Game4.80 (16th)2.43 (6th)
Shots For/Game26.00 (3rd)31.08 (9th)
Shots Against/Game24.96 (4th)29.14 (10th)
Overall PP8.3% (14th)7.1% (15th)
Home PP- - -16.7% (8th)
Road PP8.3% (7th)0.00% (10th)
Overall PK60.0% (17th)77.8% (11th)
Home PK- - -33.3% (11th)
Road PK60.0% (10th)100% (1st)
PIM/GAME22.517.5
Attendance4,193 (2nd)- - -

LEADING SCORERS
Moncton
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
Alex Saulnier2213
Dmitri Jaskin2202
Allain Saulnier2112

Saint John
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
Jonathan Huberdeau2123
Ryan Tesink2033
Kevin Gagne2112

GOALTENDERS
Moncton
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Alex Dubeau1-1-0-04.840.808
John Chartrand0-0-0-0- - -- - -

Saint John
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Sebastien Auger1-1-0-02.450.917
Alex Fournier0-0-0-0- - -- - -

LAST GAMES
The Sea Dogs are coming off a 3-2 overtime win over the Titan in Bathurst on Friday night. Jonathan Huberdeau, Kevin Gagne, and Oliver Cooper scored for Saint John. Ryan Tesink had three assists. Sebastien Auger made 29 saves in net for the win.

The Wildcats are coming off a 5-4 shootout win over the Screaming Eagles in Cape Breton on Sunday. Dmitri Jaskin scored twice while Alex and Allain Saulnier added singles. Jaskin, Yannick Veilleux, and Ivan Barbashev scored in the shootout. Alex Dubeau made 23 saves in net for the win.


HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Sea Dogs went 0-2 against the Wildcats in pre-season action, losing 3-0 and 5-3.

Saint John went 6-2-0-0 against Moncton last season while the Wildcats went 2-3-1-2 against the Sea Dogs.

These two last played each other in regular season action was on February 28 at Harbour Station. Charlie Coyle, Jonathan Huberdeau, Maxime Villemaire, Nathan Beaulieu, and Stanislav Galiev scored in Saint John’s 5-3 victory. Marek Hrivik, Devon MacAusland, and Christophe Lalonde scored for Moncton. Mathieu Corbeil made 18 saves for the Dogs while Roman Will made 36 for the ‘Cats.

IMPORTS
Moncton’s new import players should be fun to watch tonight. Dmitri Jaskin looked solid in the pre-season against Saint John and already has two goals in two games this regular season. He is a St. Louis Blues prospect.

Then there is Ivan Barbashev who was the first overall pick in the CHL Import Draft. He has one assists so far.

NOTES

  • Sea Dogs magnetic schedules will be available at the game tonight.
  • This is the first game of the annual Rivalry Cup. No clue what the point format is.
  • From Neil Hodge of the Times & Transcript: “Moncton had a rebuilding club and it managed just two wins in 16 games against Saint John over the past two seasons, but there were eight losses by a one-goal margin. The Wildcats were 2-3-1-2 in 2010-11 and 0-5-2-1 last season in the head-to-head meetings between these clubs.”
  • The Wildcats are starting the season with three straight road games. They make their home debut on Friday.
  • For the first time in a long time, this Wildcats team shouldn’t put you to sleep. So that’s good.
  • Olivier Leblanc is the only new Sea Dog to record a point so far this year.
  • Forward Stephen MacAulay and defenseman Kevin Gagne leave for Hamilton Bulldogs training camp tomorrow.
  • These teams meet again on Sunday afternoon in Moncton.

OTHER GAMES
Cape Breton at Acadie-Bathurst - 7:30 PM ADT
Rouyn-Noranda at Sherbrooke - 7:00 PM EDT
Victoriaville at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EDT

NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs host the Gatineau Olympiques on Saturday at 7pm at the Station.

No comments:

Post a Comment