GAME DAY 31: at Victoriaville

A preview of tonight’s game between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Victoriaville Tigres…

When and where: Tonight at 8 p.m., Colisee Desjardins

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs are first in the Maritimes Division, second overall in the QMJHL and are ranked eighth in the CHL Top 10 with a 19-6-1-4 record for 43 points. The Tigres are fourth in the East Division and sixth overall with a 17-10-1-3 record for 38 points.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-4 overtime victory over the Val-d’Or Foreurs on Sunday at Harbour Station. Mathieu Joseph, Adam Marsh, Adam Bateman, Daniel Del Paggio and Jakub Zboril all scored for Saint John while Alex Bishop made 27 saves in the win. The Tigres are coming off a 4-3 win over the Rimouski Oceanic on Sunday. Phil Pietroniro, Mathieu Ayotte, Gabriel Gagne and Felix Lauzon all scored for the Tigres while Chase Marchand made 31 saves.

2014-15 head-to-head: This is the first meeting of the season between the two. They meet again on Feb. 18 in Saint John.

Last meeting: See above.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Tigres: Nikita Li

Random stat: Saint John’s Sebastien Auger and Victoriaville’s Chase Marchand are tied for the league’s best save percentage with a .919 rating.

SJ notes: Adam Marsh leads the Sea Dogs in scoring with 29 points in 28 games… Marsh has a team high 15 goals… Spencer Smallman leads the team in assists with 16… 7-6-0-1 on the road this season… 4-0-0-1 over their past five games and are coming off a three-in-three sweep… Sebastien Auger has a league best GAA of 2.50… Marsh is seventh in rookie scoring… Jakub Zboril leads all rookies in power play goals with five… Zboril and Thomas Chabot are 11^th and 12^th in defensemen scoring with 21 points each… 11-1-0-1 when scoring first… 3-2-0-2 against East Division teams… Saint John’s penalty kill rating of 85.5% leads the league.

VIC notes: Angelo Miceli leads the Tigres in scoring and is third overall in the league with 51 points in 31 games… Miceli has a team high 22 goals… Miceli also leads the team in assists with 29… 12-3-0-1 at home this season… 4-0-1-0 over their past five games… Jordan Ty Fournier leads all rookies in shooting percentage with 10 goals on 31 shots… Phil Pietroniro is 10^th in defensemen scoring with 23 points… have only scored one shootout goal on 10 shot attempts… 15-3-0-1 when scoring first… 3-3-0-0 against the Maritimes Division… their 85% penalty kill rating is second best in the league… the Tigres have allowed six shorthanded goals, the second most in the league… Victoriaville is averaging 33.04 shots against per game, the most in the league… Gabriel Gagne has goals in three straight games… Samuel Blais has assists in five straight games… Miceli has points in eight straight games.

Out of town:

Québec at Moncton - 7:00 PM AST
Gatineau at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EST
Rimouski at Sherbrooke - 7:00 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs travel to Rouyn-Noranda to battle the Huskies on Friday at 8:30 p.m.