GAMEDAY 8: at Voltigeurs

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Drummondville Voltigeurs

Tonight, September 30, 2011 at 8pm

Marcel Dionne Centre

PREVIEW

DRUMMONDVILLE –Last year, Jonathan Huberdeau and Sean Couturier were the main attractions when the Saint John Sea Dogs and Drummondville Voltigeurs met. A year later, neither of them will even be in the lineup as the Volts host the Dogs tonight at 8pm.

Huberdeau, selected third overall in June’s National Hockey League Entry Draft by the Florida Panthers, and Couturier, taken eighth overall by the Philadelphia Flyers, are both still taking part in training camps with their teams.

Even without their best payers, both squads have had a decent September. The Volts are off to a 4-3-0-0 start and are winners of three straight. They have outscored their opponents 27-18 over their seven games without the services of Couturier.

Entering play today, Drummondville sits third overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and first in the Telus West Division.

Saint John has been hot of late, winning four straight contests after an 0-3 start to the season. Over the past four games, the Sea Dogs have outscored their opposition 19-10.

This will be the Sea Dogs’ second game of a three-game road trek through the province of Quebec. Saint John defeated the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 3-1 on Wednesday night, take on the Voltigeurs tonight and then play the Victoriaville Tigres tomorrow.

Nathan Beaulieu, Ryan Tesink and Tomas Jurco all scored in their 3-1 win over the Armada on Wednesday. Mathieu Corbeil got the win in goal.

The Sea Dogs will be looking for a better result on this trip to Drummondville than last year’s. They blew a 5-1 second period lead and eventually fell 7-6 to the Volts in a shootout. Scott Oke had two goals in that game while Danick Gauthier had a goal and an assist. Frederic Piche allowed six markers on 41 shots in the contest

The Sea Dogs' performance in Drummondville last year was one of the few ugly moments of their 2010-11 campaign, something will try to not duplicate tonight.

NOTES: Danick Gauthier still leads the Sea Dogs in scoring with five goals and two assists for seven points on the year. Stanislav Galiev (3G, 2A), Oliver Cooper (3G, 2A) and Scott Oke (1G, 4A) are all second in team scoring with five points each… Gauthier’s five goals are a team high… Oke has a team leading four assists. Zack Phillips, Aidan Kelly, Tyrone Sock and Spencer MacDonald all have three helpers… Gauthier and Oke are a team high +5… Jason Seed remains a team low -8… MacDonald remains the team leader in penalty minutes with 17… Saint John’s power play is running at 15.9% and is ranked 15^th in the league… their penalty kill is slowly improving. The Dogs are now ranked 12^th in the league with a rating of 71.9%... Gauthier is tied for the league lead in insurance goals with two… Cooper’s five points place him 11^th in rookie scoring… the Dogs are 1-2-0-0 on the road this year and have been outscored 17-9.

IN NET: It will be interesting to see who the Sea Dogs start in goal tonight. Mathieu Corbeil has made three straight starts in net which includes Wednesday's match in Boisbriand. With the Dogs set to play the No. 4 nationally ranked Tigres tomorrow, it wouldn’t be a shock to see either Sebastien Auger or Charlie Millen get the call between the pipes this evening.

Millen is 0-2 with a 5.09 goals against average and a 0.839 save percentage. Auger is 1-1 with a 5.50 GAA and a 0.843 save percentage. But, who knows, Corbeil could start again tonight. He is 3-0 with a 2.27 GAA and a 0.926 save percentage since returning from Columbus Blue Jackets training camp.

ROAD TRIP: This is the second game of a three-game road trip through Quebec for the Sea Dogs. They beat the Armada 3-1 on Wednesday, take on the Voltigeurs tonight and wrap things up tomorrow in Victoriaville.

STILL GONE: Jonathan Huberdeau is the last Sea Dog remaining at a NHL camp. He scored his third goal of the pre-season last night for the Florida Panthers in a 7-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

We’ve reached the point where he could be sent today, next week or in a month. Stay tuned.

LAST YEAR: The last time the Sea Dogs were in Drummondville, this happened:

LAST GAME: Saint John is coming off a 3-1 win in Boisbriand on Wednesday. Ryan Tesink, Tomas Jurco and Nathan Beaulieu all scored in their first game back from NHL camps. Mathieu Corbeil made 30 stops for the victory.

NOTES: Marc-Olivier Brouillard leads the Voltigeurs in scoring with eight goals and five assists for 13 points. Andre Bouvet-Morrissette is second in team scoring with 10 points… Brouillard’s eight goals are a team high… Bouvet-Morrissette has a Drummondville leading eight helpers this year… Jonathan Oligney is a team high +9. No player on their roster has a lower rating than a -3… Maxime Vellemaire has served 21 penalty minutes in five games… other than Brouillard’s eight goals, no player on the Volts has more than three… Brouillard is tied for second in league goal scoring… three of the top 20 plus/minus players are on the Volts roster… Drummondville has the 14^th ranked power play with a rating of 16.1%... the Volts have the best penalty kill in the league. It is currently running at 93.9%... 3-1-0-0 at the Marcel Dionne Centre this season and have outscored their opponents 13-8.

IN NET: Domenic Graham has played the most minutes in net for the Volts this season. He is 3-2-0-0 with a 2.22 goals against average and a 0.919 save percentage.

Former Sea Dog prospect Simon Giroux is the other Drummondville goaltender. He was originally acquired from the Volts in the Chris DiDomenico trade but never played a game for the Dogs. He has spent the past two seasons with Baie-Comeau and is now back with Drummondville.

COUTURIER: The Volts are still without their best player. Sean Couturier is still at Philadelphia Flyers camp and is in the same position as Jonathan Huberdeau is with the Panthers. Couturier had 96 points in 58 games last season in Drummondville. He also played for Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships.

INJURED: According to L’Express today, Jean-Sebastien Fournier and Jean-Philippe Mathieu will both be out of action tonight.

LAST GAME: The Volts hosted the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies last night and won 6-3. Andre Bouvet-Morrissette scored twice while Tommy Giroux, Charles-David Beaudoin, Jerome Verrier and Jerome Raymond added singles. Domenic Graham allowed three goals in 21 shots.

Best Voltigeurs Video We Could Find On YouTube: “Gotta support the team.”

OTHER GAMES

Halifax at Cape Breton - 7:00 PM ADT

Moncton at Quebec - 7:00 PM EDT

Rouyn-Noranda at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:30 PM EDT

Acadie-Bathurst at Shawinigan - 7:30 PM EDT

Gatineau at Val-d'Or - 7:30 PM EDT

ARENA INFO

Venue: Marcel Dionne Centre

Capacity: 4,000 (3,038 seated)

Average Attendance: 2,343

QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE

Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM

Live Web Feed: Telus

Television: None

Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, L’Express

Live Coverage: Follow Station Nation on Twitter (www.twitter.com/station_nation) for live in game coverage. All tweets will also appear in the SN Live Blog that is posted on this site.

UP NEXT

The Sea Dogs wrap-up their three-game Quebec road swing tomorrow in Victoriaville against the Tigres at 5pm AST.

Photo Credits: Marc Henwood/Station Nation, L'Express