PRESIDENT'S CUP PRE-GAME: Game Three vs Moncton Wildcats

GAME DAY
2010 President's Cup Final
Game One: Moncton Wildcats vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Harbour Station

SERIES STATUS
Moncton leads the best-of-seven series 2-0.

PRE-GAME PREVIEW
The game plan for the Saint John Sea Dogs will be a simple one – win at all costs.

It takes four games to win a series, but if the Moncton Wildcats manage to pull off a win tonight at Harbour Station, it is all but over.

“Obviously we haven’t gotten off to the start we’d like this series but there’s a great deal of resolve in our locker room and I definitely think we can put the first two games behind us and come out with a strong effort on Tuesday,” says Team Captain Mike Thomas to saintjohnseadogs.com.

Moncton won easily 5-1 on Friday in Saint John before demolishing the Sea Dogs 9-3 Sunday. Game two ended with some fireworks between the two coaching staffs.

"They totally dominated us,'' Gallant said to the Telegraph-Journal. "They are the better team. After two games like this, there is not a lot I can say.

"Nothing is going right."

Moncton has outscored Saint John 14-4 in the two games.

The Sea Dogs have appeared to be asleep for the entirety of this President’s Cup Final. The team’s third line of Mike Thomas, Danick Gauthier, and Stephen MacAulay has been the only line to have any kind of production.

If there was ever a time to wake up, it is today.

GET TO KNOW THE WILDCATS
Visiting Team: Moncton Wildcats

Playoff Record: 14-3
Record at Home: 7-2
Record on Road: 7-1
Power Play: 28.0%
Penalty Kill: 83.6%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Kelsey Tessier (15GP-10G-11A-21Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 72-50

Reg. Season Record: 48-14-2-4 (2nd Atlantic, 3rd QMJHL)
Record vs Saint John: 4-0-1-3
Record at Home: 26-6-0-2 (2nd)
Record on the Road: 22-8-2-2(2nd)
Power Play: 27.0%
Penalty Kill: 83.0%

Reg. Season Leading Scorer: Nicolas Deschamps (64GP-39G-57A-96Pts)

NHL Draft Picks: Nicola Riopel (Philadelphia), Randy Cameron (Detroit), Mark Barberio (Tampa Bay), Nicolas Deschamps (Anaheim), David Savard (Columbus), Gabriel Bourque (Nashville), and Kelsey Tessier (Colorado).

GET TO KNOW THE SEA DOGS
Home Team: Saint John Sea Dogs

Playoff Record: 12-5
Record at Home: 7-2
Record on Road: 5-3
Power Play: 28.1%
Penalty Kill: 80.9%
Playoff Leading Scorer: Michael Kirkpatrick (14GP-10G-13A-23Pts)
All-Time Playoff Record: 20-15

Reg. Season Record: 53-12-1-2 (1st Atlantic, 1st QMJHL)
Record vs Moncton: 4-3-0-1
Record at Home: 26-7-0-1 (3rd)
Record on Road: 27-5-1-1 (1st)
Power Play: 24.3%
Penalty Kill: 78.8%

Reg. Season Leading Scorer: Mike Hoffman (56GP-46G-39A-85P)

NHL Draft Picks: Yann Sauve (Vancouver), Marco Cousineau (Anaheim), Simon Despres (Pittsburgh), Steven Anthony (Vancouver), Mike Hoffman (Ottawa), and Nicholas Petersen (Pittsburgh).

HEAD-TO-HEAD THIS SEASON
Season series tied 4-4

2009/09/27: Moncton Wildcats 3 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 4 SO
2009/10/17: Moncton Wildcats 2 @ Saint John 3 OT
2009/12/13: Saint John Sea Dogs 3 @ Moncton Wildcats 7
2009/12/31: Saint John Sea Dogs 4 @ Moncton Wildcats 3 SO
2010/01/06: Moncton Wildcats 5 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 3
2010/02/06: Saint John Sea Dogs 5 @ Moncton Wildcats 4 SO
2010/03/05: Moncton Wildcats 4 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 3 SO
2010/03/14: Saint John Sea Dogs 2 @ Moncton Wildcats 5

Saint John leading scorer vs Moncton: Tomas Jurco (8GP-5G-4A-9Pts)
Moncton leading scorer vs Saint John: David Savard (7GP-0G-10A-10Pts)

SERIES RESULTS/SCHEDULE
Moncton leads the best-of-seven series 2-0

GAME 1: Friday, April 30 – Moncton Wildcats 5 @ Saint John Sea Dogs 1
GAME 2: Sunday, May 2 – Saint John Sea Dogs 3 @ Moncton Wildcats 9

GAME 3: Tuesday, May 4 - 7pm @ Harbour Station
GAME 4: Friday, May 7 - 7:30pm @ Moncton Coliseum
*GAME 5: Saturday, May 8 - 7pm @ Harbour Station
*GAME 6: Monday, May 10 - 7pm @ Moncton Coliseum
*GAME 7: Tuesday, May 11 - 7pm @ Harbour Station
*if necessary

CRAZY FACT
Saint John has not lost three straight games all year. The last time the Sea Dogs lost three consecutive tilts was in March of 2009.

SAINT JOHN LINEUP NOTES
Kevin Gagne is once again questionable with a knee injury. The 17-year old has not played since game five of the opening round. News 88.9 reported that Gagne is “very close to returning.”

Steven Anthony is also questionable with a groin injury.

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE
From News 88.9 on Monday afternoon:

A few extra tickets have become available for tomorrow night's third game of the QMJHL President's Cup Final between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats at Harbour Station.

About three hundred tickets were released late this morning by the Canadian Hockey League.

The new tickets can be purchased at the Harbour Station box office, online, or by calling 657-1234.

WAITING FOR A WIN
Saint John is still without a win in their President’s Cup Final franchise history. Also, the Sea Dogs still have never won a game in a series after losing the first game.

LAST TIME AT THE STATION?
For Mike Hoffman, Nicholas Petersen, and Marco Cousineau, this could be their last time on Harbour Station ice if the Sea Dogs fall again tonight.

Game four is Friday at the Moncton Coliseum. If necessary, game five is Saturday at 7:00 pm at Harbour Station.

TIME TO STEP UP
Marty Klinkenberg basically summed up the story of this series in his column yesterday:

At this point, Gauthier has scored half of the Sea Dogs' goals in their first two games and their four top scorers - Mike Hoffman, Michael Kirkpatrick, Nicholas Petersen and Stanislav Galiev - have all been shut out.

The Wildcats' defence has been so tenacious that Hoffman has more penalty minutes (four) than he has shots (three). Galiev failed to register a shot on Sunday, and has six penalty minutes in two games. Kirkpatrick has taken only three shots and has two minutes in penalties, and Petersen has yet to beat Riopel in eight shots.

There is no way the Sea Dogs can win if the scrappy Schembri, a post-season pickup who began the season by getting cut by Moncton, outscores his team's top guns.

WHO TO WATCH
Moncton – Gabriel Bourque
The Nashville Predators prospect already has 16 goals in the playoffs after scoring the same amount in the regular season. Bourque has five goals in the series.

Saint John – Mike Hoffman
We picked Hoffman as the player to watch on Sunday which turned out to be a big mistake. So far in the series, the sniper has no points and is a -5. Can Hoffman really go three straight games without a point?

NOTES

• Moncton is 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 playoff games and have won four straight games.
• Saint John is 6-4-0-0 in their last 10 playoff games and have lost two straight.
• The Sea Dogs still lead the way in goals scored in the post-season with 78, only one better than the Wildcats.
• Kelsey Tessier has taken over the league playoff scoring lead with 25 points. Michael Kirkpatrick of Saint John is second with 24 points.
• This game is not on Rogers TV.

THE RINK
Venue: Harbour Station
Capacity: 6,297
Playoff Average Attendance: 4,609
Reg. Season Average Attendance: 4,140

MEDIA RELATIONS
Newspapers: Telegraph-Journal, Times & Transcript, Journal de Quebec, and L’Acadie Nouvelle
Television: None
Radio: Saint John- News 88.9; Moncton- News 91.9
Video: Telus Webcast
Post-Game Highlights: SeaDogsTV

TWITTER
Follow Station Nation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/station_nation for in game updates from tonight’s game.

AFTER THE BUZZER
Game four is Friday night at the Moncton Coliseum at 7:30 pm.