GAME DAY
WHO: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Moncton Wildcats
WHEN: Tonight, 7:30 pm
WHERE: Moncton Coliseum
VISITING TEAM: Saint John Sea Dogs
Record: 42-5-1-2 (1st in Maritimes Division)
Last Game: 7-2 win vs Bathurst Wednesday
Leading Scorer: Jonathan Huberdeau (49GP-31G-44A-75Pts)
Notes: The Saint John Sea Dogs enter play tonight with a record of 42-5-1-2 which is good for first place in the Maritimes Division and first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Sea Dogs are separating themselves from the pack as they now have a 19-point lead over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the division and a 10-point lead over the Montreal Juniors and Quebec Remparts for top spot in the league… Saint John is the nationally top-ranked team in the country according to the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings. They have now been ranked first for eight straight weeks… the Sea Dogs are coming off a solid 7-2 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan Wednesday night at Harbour Station. Tomas Jurco and Jonathan Huberdeau each scored a pair of goals while Michael Kirkpatrick, Steven Anthony, and Stephan MacAulay scored singles. The Dogs simply outplayed the struggling Titan on Wednesday, especially in the special teams department as they went 3-for-8 on the power play. Before that match, Saint John was getting into penalty trouble but that seemed to change as the Titan only had one power play the entire game. Goaltender Jacob DeSerres made 14 saves in the win… the Sea Dogs have been cruising over the past few weeks. The club is 13-0-1-0 in their last 14 games and has not lost in regulation since December 30 in Bathurst. The Dogs are 9-0-1-0 in their last 10 games… 18-5-0-1 on the road this season and have outscored their opposition 105-71 over that span. They are averaging 4.4 goals per road game… the squad is 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 road games… Saint John has the seventh best power play in the QMJHL at the moment with a rating of 24.6%. On the road, they are running at 28.4% which is the second best road power play in the league… the Sea Dogs have the sixth best penalty kill in the league with a rating of 81.2%. On the road, the team is operating at 76.1%... Saint John averages the 13th most penalty minutes per game with an average of 12.9 per contest… Jonathan Huberdeau is still a monster and leads the Sea Dogs in scoring with 75 points in 49 games… Huberdeau also leads the team in goals with 31 on the year. He is now three ahead of linemate Zack Phillips for the team lead… Huberdeau leads the club in assists with 44 on the year. Phillips is a close second with 41 while Michael Kirkpatrick has 39… Phillips is second in the league in power play goals with 13… Phillips is tied for second in game winning goals with seven… Tomas Jurco and Steven Anthony are tied for second in insurance goals with five… Huberdeau is a league best +43… Ryan Tesink is 11th in rookie scoring with 26… Mathieu Corbeil will likely start in goals for Saint John this evening. The 19-year old Columbus Blue Jackets prospect has a record of 11-15-1-1, a goals against average of 3.52, and a save percentage of 0.871. Since joining the Sea Dogs, he has a record of 4-0-1-0, a GAA of 2.52, and a 0.893 save percentage… Kirkpatrick is on a six-game point scoring streak… Phillips has gotten an assist in seven straight road games… Phillips is a seven-game road scoring streak while Huberdeau is on a six-game road streak.
Record: 26-18-2-4 (3rd in Maritimes Division)
Last Game: 5-4 win at PEI Sunday
Leading Scorer: Alex Saulnier (50GP-20G-44A-64Pts)
Notes: The Moncton Wildcats enter action tonight with a record of 26-18-2-4 which places them third in the Maritimes Division and 10th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. It will be difficult for the Wildcats to catch the second place Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the division as they have a 10-point lead… the Wildcats are coming off a 4-3 win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday night at the Moncton Coliseum. The Mooseheads battled hard, outshooting the ‘Cats 30-26, but could not get the victory. Thomas Flynn and Daniel Milan each scored for Moncton while Ted Stephens scored a pair – including the game winner with just under two minutes to play. Steve Gleeson made 27 saves in net for the win… 6-3-0-1 in their last 10 games and are coming off a win… Moncton is 12-9-2-3 at the Coliseum this season and have been outscored 92-90 in the 26 games played at the venue. They are averaging 3.46 goals per home game… 6-3-0-1 in their last 10 home games… Moncton’s power play is ranked fourth in the QMJHL with a rating of 25.9%. At home, they are operating at 25.9% as well… the Wildcats have the ninth best penalty kill in the league with a rating of 79.2%. At home, they are running at 78.3%... the ‘Cats average the eighth most penalty minutes per game with an average of 14.6 minutes per contest… Alex Saulnier has pulled ahead of his twin brother Allain in the team scoring race. Alex now leads the club with 64 points in 50 games… Allain Saulnier leads the team in goals this season with 24. Marek Hrivik is a close second with 22… Alex Saulnier leads the team in assists with 44 on the year… Tyler Howe has a team high 84 penalty minutes this season… Steve Gleeson will likely start in net for Moncton this evening. He has a record of 11-3-2-1, a goals against average of 3.18, and a save percentage of 0.898. Gleeson is one of five goaltenders to have see time in the Wildcats’ crease this season… Hrivik is on a six-game assist scoring streak. He is also on a seven-game point scoring streak… Daniel Milan has scored the fourth most goals among defenseman this season with 13… Brandon Gormley is second among defenseman in power play scoring with 21 points… Moncton is allowing the second most shots per game in the league with an average of 33.58.
RIVALRY CUP
This is Game Six of the 2010-11 Brunswick News Rivalry Cup. Saint John has a commanding 19-6 lead in the season long series.
Here is this year’s point system:
(1)Head-to-head on-ice results: Three (3) points awarded to a team for a regulation win, two (2) points awarded for an overtime/shootout victory, and one (1) point awarded for an overtime/shootout loss.Wildcats general manager Wayne MacDonald spoke to the Times & Transcript about their point deficit yesterday.
(2) Head-to-head attendance figure (per game): Three (3) points awarded for 6,000 fans, two (2) points for 5,000 fans, and one (1) point for 4,000 fans.
(3) EA Sports NHL 11 Fan/Player Video Game Challenge: Saint John and Moncton will each select one fan to participate in an online video game series (best two-out-of-three) using the virtual versions of the Sea Dogs and Wildcats. The winning fan will collect five (5) points for his team/city. In addition, the Sea Dogs and Wildcats will select one player from their current roster to compete in a single-game competition, with the winner set to earn three (3) points for his side. More details regarding this portion of the challenge will be announced at a later date.
"Although Saint John has been fortunate to win the games so far, we always say it's never over until it's over," he said. "We do have the opportunity to make it quite interesting coming down the stretch."ON PLAYING SAINT JOHN
Moncton associate coach Fabian Joseph in today’s Times & Transcript:
"I think we feel confident that we can play with that team," he said. "They're No. 1 in this league and they've been ranked the top team in the country for most of the season. They've got a lot of offensive players so we've got to play an air-tight game in terms of our team defence.LAST FRIDAY
"We can't give them many outnumbered attacks. We've got to take care of our own zone and if we do that we're going to get some opportunities offensively. We've got to make sure we're strong on special teams and play as much five-on-five as we can."
Tomas Jurco was tossed from the game following a blindside hit on Scott Trask. Trask then went on to fight Danick Gauthier.
NOTES
- This is the Sea Dogs’ final regular season game in Moncton this season. They are 3-0-0-0 so far.
- The Wildcats will unveil their No. 8 all-time fan favourite player tonight.
- Wildcats head coach Danny Flynn is not expected to be in the house tonight as he is on a scouting trip.
- These two-teams played each other a week ago tonight as well at the Moncton Coliseum. Saint John won the match 4-3.
- Moncton has a lifetime record of 29-12-3-6 against Saint John in the regular season and playoffs combined.
OTHER GAMES TODAY
Drummondville at PEI - 7:00 PM AST
Montréal at Québec - 7:00 PM EST
Rouyn-Noranda at Baie-Comeau - 7:30 PM EST
Gatineau at Shawinigan - 7:30 PM EST
Rimouski at Val-d'Or - 7:30 PM EST
Cape Breton at Victoriaville - 8:00 PM EST
ARENA INFO
Venue: Moncton Coliseum
Seating Capacity: 6,803
Average Attendance: 4,389
Year Built: 1973
QMJHL Arena Guide
MEDIA GUIDE
Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Live Blog: Station Nation
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, L’Acadie Nouvelle, Times & Transcript, Telegraph-Journal
Follow Station Nation on Twitter at www.twitter.com/station_nation for in-game updates, scores, stats, and live coverage during tonight’s game.
AFTER THE BUZZER
The Sea Dogs travel to Halifax tomorrow for a 7pm tilt against the Mooseheads.
Photo Credits: Marc Grandmaison, Times & Transcript, Google
No comments:
Post a Comment