GAME DAY 67: at Cape Breton

The Saint John Sea Dogs (42-18-6-0, 90 points, 1^st Maritimes, 3^rd QMJHL) begin the final stretch of the regular season tonight in Sydney when they take on the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (36-24-5-1, 78 points, 3^rd Maritimes, 7^th QMJHL) at 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webast: Eastlink TV/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss in Bathurst on Tuesday. Thomas Chabot scored Saint John’s only goal. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 29 saves in the loss. The Screaming Eagles are coming off a 4-1 win in Bathurst on Saturday. Phelix Martineau had a pair of goals and singles came from Pierre-Luc Dubois and Michael Joly. Daryl MacCallum made 21 saves in the win.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 6-1-0-0 against the Screaming Eagles this season while Cape Breton is 1-5-0-1 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Jan. 23 at Harbour Station where the Sea Dogs edged the Screaming Eagles 7-5. Spencer Smallman had a pair of goals while singles came from Daniel Del Paggio, Nathan Noel, Sam Povorozniouk, Matthew Highmore and Mathieu Joseph. Evgeny Svechnikov recorded two goals for the Eagles with singles coming courtesy of Tobie Paquette-Bisson, Maxim Lazarev and Michael Joly. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 26 saves in the win. Daryl MacCallum allowed six goals on 39 shots in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Screaming Eagles: Defenseman Olivier LeBlanc

Player to watch: Michael Joly has scored in five straight games. Over that span he has recorded six goals and four assists.

Three Things to Know

1. In the race for second place, the Sea Dogs and Shawinigan Cataractes each have 90 points with two games left. Shawinigan currently owns the tiebreaker. The Cataractes host the Sherbrooke Phoenix tonight.

2. The Screaming Eagles, who currently sit seventh overall, could also move up or down the standings depending on results this weekend. The Eagles are four points back of sixth-place Moncton and three points up on eighth-place Rimouski.

3. The Screaming Eagles have been one of the hottest teams in the QMJHL of late, winning five straight and eight of their last 10. They have really been on fire offensively, scoring 276 goals on the year, which is good for third most in the Q. 

Notes: The Screaming Eagles are a solid 21-7-4-0 at home this season… the Sea Dogs are 19-9-4-0 on the road… Pierre-Luc Dubois is fourth in the league in scoring with 40 goals and 95 points in 61 games… Michael Joly’s 45 goals are third most… Alexandre Belanger has the third most wins with 29… Matthew Highmore and Daniel Del Paggio each have points in eight straight games… Joly has points in 11 straight home games while Dubois has points in 10 straight… the Eagles have won six straight home games… Dubois only has two goals and an assist in six games against Saint John this season.

Out of town:

Acadie-Bathurst at Charlottetown - 7:00 PM ADT
Halifax at Moncton - 7:00 PM ADT
Baie-Comeau at Chicoutimi - 7:00 PM EDT
Rouyn-Noranda at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EDT
Val-d'Or at Gatineau - 7:00 PM EDT
Blainville-Boisbriand at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EDT
Québec at Rimouski - 7:30 PM EDT
Sherbrooke at Shawinigan - 7:30 PM EDT

Next game: The Sea Dogs take on the Screaming Eagles again tomorrow – this time at 4 p.m.