Friday, April 21, 2017

Playoffs Game Day: Game 1 vs Sagueneens

The Saint John Sea Dogs begin semifinal play tonight at Harbour Station. Game time for Game 1 against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens is 7 p.m.

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Series status: This is the first game of the best-of-seven President Cup semifinal series.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 7-1 win in Val-d'Or on Wednesday, April 12. Spencer Smallman had a hat trick for Saint John, Joe Veleno had two goals and singles came from Simon Bourque and Julien Gauthier. Callum Booth made 18 saves in the win. The Sagueneens are coming off a 4-3 overtime win in Rouyn-Noranda on Tuesday. Kelly Klima and Olivier Galipeau each scored twice in that game. Julio Billia made 29 saves in the win.

2016-17 regular season head-to-head: The Sea Dogs went 2-0-0-0 against the Sagueneens in the regular season while Chicoutimi went 0-2-0-0 against Saint John.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Sagueneens: None.

Random stat: The Sea Dogs went 10-0 in the 2012 playoffs before losing their first match - which was Game 3 of the semifinals against none other than Chicoutimi. Saint John has cruised through the first two rounds this year and is currently 8-0.

Three Things to Know
1. The start of this game could be interesting with the Sagueneens coming off the rush of Tuesday's Game 7 overtime win while the Sea Dogs, who have had over a week off, may either look very fresh or a bit rusty. We'll see how it plays out.

2. Someone on the Sea Dogs who is quite familiar with the Sagueneens is goaltender Callum Booth. The former Quebec Remparts netminder is 3-2 vs the Sags this season, posting an impressive 1.95 GAA and .927 SV%. He's posted fairly strong numbers against Chicoutimi throughout his QMJHL career.

3. The QMJHL website has a couple previews here and here. You can also check out our five things to watch for.

Notes: Mathieu Joseph leads Saint John in scoring with 15 points... Spencer Smallman has a team high eight goals... Thomas Chabot and Matthew Highmore are both tied for the team lead in in assists with 10 each... Dmitry Zhukenov leads the Sagueneens in scoring with 16 points and assists with 11... Nicolas Roy has a team high six goals... Saint John is 4-0-0-0 at home... Chicoutimi is 4-2-0-0 on the road... Callum Booth's 1.71 GAA is second best in the league... Chabot leads all QMJHL defencemen in scoring with 13 points... Saint John has allowed just one power play goal on 29 chances this post-season... Saint John leads the league in shorthanded goals with four... Julien Gauthier has goals in three straight games... Highmore and Joseph have points in eight straight.

Head-to-head
Out of town:
Blainville-Boisbriand at Charlottetown - 7:00 PM ADT

Next game: The Sea Dogs and Sagueneens meet for Game 2 of the series tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

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