GAMEDAY
Moncton Wildcats vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Tonight at 7:30pm
Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live:
@station_nation
Harbour Station – Saint John, NB
SAINT JOHN – The Ross Yates head coaching era begins
tonight.
The Saint John Sea Dogs play their first game since the
firing of head coach and general manager Mike Kelly this evening at Harbour
Station. Yates and the Sea Dogs host the rival Moncton Wildcats at 7:30pm.
The timing of Kelly’s firing certainly came as a
surprise. Sure, the Sea Dogs have lost eight straight but have been playing
decent hockey of late. This is the second year of Saint John’s rebuild and
expectations aren’t too high for the club. But the firing happened. Now let’s
see what Yates can do with this team.
The Sea Dogs are a quarter of the way through their
schedule and have a 5-10-0-2 record, placing them last in the Telus Maritimes
Division and 17th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Saint John has gone 0-7-0-1 during this losing skid but their last four games
have all been decided by one goal.
Scoring has been an issue for the
Sea Dogs over the past few weeks. Maybe Yates can get the team going offensively
a bit more than Kelly. Michael Abbott, Olivier LeBlanc, and Oliver Cooper all
have 12 points to lead the team in scoring. Nathan Noel has a team best six
goals.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats enter action tonight with a
7-11-0-1 record and sit fourth in the Maritimes Division and 14th
overall. The ‘Cats have lost three straight and are 4-5-0-1 in their last 10
games.
Christopher Caissy leads Moncton in scoring with six
goals and 13 assists for 19 points in 19 games. Ivan Barbashev, who was hurt in
the Wildcats’ last trip to Harbour Station, is expected to return to action tonight
reports the Times & Transcript.
This is the third meeting of the year between the Sea
Dogs and Wildcats. Each team has won once.
THE NUMBERS
| Moncton | Saint John | |
| Record | 7-11-0-1 (4th Maritimes) | 5-10-0-2 (6th Maritimes) |
| Home Record | 3-6-0-0 | 3-4-0-1 |
| Road Record | 4-5-0-1 | 2-6-0-1 |
| Goals For/Game | 2.61 (16th) | 2.26 (17th) |
| Goals Against/Game | 3.34 (11th) | 3.01 (5th) |
| Shots For/Game | 28.96 (12th) | 30.90 (7th) |
| Shots Against/Game | 29.17 (10th) | 35.42 (16th) |
| Overall PP | 15.2% (17th) | 19.6% (11th) |
| Home PP | 16.3% (14th) | 22.9% (10th) |
| Road PP | 14.0% (14th) | 15.9% (12th) |
| Overall PK | 84.1% (2nd) | 80.2% (7th) |
| Home PK | 79.5% (8th) | 87.5% (3rd) |
| Road PK | 88.4% (1st) | 73.2% (13th) |
| PIM/GAME | 14.1 | 16.6 |
| Attendance | 4,013 | 2,934 |
LEADING SCORERS
Moncton
| Player | GP | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Christopher Caissy | 19 | 6 | 13 | 19 |
| Ivan Barbashev | 14 | 7 | 11 | 18 |
| Conor Garland | 19 | 7 | 10 | 17 |
Saint John
| Player | GP | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Michael Abbott | 14 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| Olivier LeBlanc | 17 | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| Oliver Cooper | 17 | 3 | 9 | 12 |
GOALTENDERS
Moncton
Moncton
| Goaltender | Record | GAA | SV% |
| Alex Dubeau | 7-10-0-1 | 2.81 | 0.904 |
| Graham Hunt | 0-1-0-0 | 5.21 | 0.812 |
Saint John
| Goaltender | Record | GAA | SV% |
| Sebastien Auger | 3-9-0-2 | 2.63 | 0.926 |
| Antoine Landry | 2-1-0-0 | 3.57 | 0.895 |
LAST GAMES
The Sea Dogs are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss in
Chicoutimi on Sunday afternoon. Olivier LeBlanc and Oliver Cooper had goals for
Saint John while Sebastien Auger made 42 saves in the loss.
The Wildcats are coming off a 3-2 loss in Sherbrooke on
Sunday. Mark Simpson and Kyle Haas had goals for Moncton. Alex Dubeau made 28
saves in the loss.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Sea Dogs are 1-1-0-0 against the Wildcats this season
while Moncton is 1-1-0-0 against Saint John.
Their last meeting was on October 16th at
Harbour Station where the Wildcats defeated the Sea Dogs 3-1. JC Campagna, Mark
Simpson, and Stephen Johnson had goals for Moncton while Matthew Highmore
scored for Saint John. Alex Dubeau made 38 saves in the win while Sebastien
Auger made 21 in the loss.
NOTES
- The all-important Rivalry Cup is currently tied 1-1.
- This is Saint John’s first home game since October 20th.
- Saint John hasn’t won a game since October 6th in Bathurst and hasn’t won a home game since October 1st vs Halifax.
- The Sea Dogs have lost four straight at home.
OUT OF TOWN
Acadie-Bathurst at Cape Breton - 7:00 PM ADT
Sherbrooke at Charlottetown - 7:00 PM ADT
Blainville-Boisbriand at Chicoutimi - 7:00 PM EDT
Shawinigan at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EDT
Rimouski at Baie-Comeau - 7:30 PM EDT
Halifax at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:30 PM EDT
Québec at Val-d'Or - 7:30 PM EDT
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs host the Charlottetown Islanders tomorrow
night at 7pm.
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