Game Day 47: at Halifax

HALIFAX - The Saint John Sea Dogs play the first of back-to-back games against the Halifax Mooseheads tonight at Scotiabank Centre.

The good news for Saint John is that the Mooseheads will be without star forward Filip Zadina, who is serving a two-game suspension. The bad news is that the Mooseheads are still incredibly deep and will be a tough, tough test for a shorthanded Sea Dogs team.

Puck drop is at 7 p.m.

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

Records: The Sea Dogs are 12-26-6-2 for 32 points (6th Maritimes, 17th QMJHL) while the Mooseheads are 30-11-5-1 for 66 points (1st Maritimes, 2nd QMJHL).

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-1 loss in Bathurst last night. Cedric Pare scored Saint John's lone goal while Alex D'Orio made 35 saves. The Mooseheads are coming off an ugly 11-1 loss in Bathurst last Saturday. Kyle Petten scored Bathurst's lone goal. Alexis Gravel was pulled after allowing five goals on 11 shots. Blade Mann-Dixon allowed six goals on 28 shots in relief.

2017-18 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 1-2-1-0 against the Mooseheads this season while Halifax is 3-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Jan. 6 at Harbour Station where the Mooseheads edged the Sea Dogs 5-4 in overtime. Brett Crossley scored twice for Halifax while singles came from Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Jared McIsaac and Raphael Lavoie. Luke Wilson, Ostap Safin, Anthony Boucher and Radim Salda scored for Saint John. Alexis Gravel was pulled after allowing three goals on 11 shots. Blade Mann-Dixon made 25 stops in relief. Alex D'Orio made 34 saves in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Mooseheads: Goaltender Blade Mann-Dixon.

Random stat: Saint John's power play has certainly struggled over the past month or so. The team now has the third worst power play rating in the league at 17.1%.

Moosehead to watch: If he plays tonight, Blade Mann Dixon has posted a 2.28 GAA and .929 SV% in three games against his former club this season.

Notes: Ostap Safin leads Saint John in scoring with 36 points. He also has a team high 15 goals... Safin and Radim Salda each have a team high 21 assists... Otto Somppi leads the Mooseheads in scoring with 55 points... Filip Zadina has a team high 27 goals... Somppi leads the team in assists with 40... Saint John is 6-15-2-0 on the road... Halifax is 15-3-3-0 at Scotiabank Centre this season... the Mooseheads have the fourth best penalty kill with a rating of 82.2%... Saint John has lost five straight on the road.

Out of town:
Cape Breton at Charlottetown - 3:00 PM AST
Québec at Sherbrooke - 3:00 PM EST
Moncton at Chicoutimi - 4:00 PM EST
Victoriaville at Val-d'Or - 7:00 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs face the Mooseheads again tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Scotiabank Centre.