GAMEDAY 22 - at Baie-Comeau

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Baie-Comeau Drakkar

Today, November 5, 2011 at 5pm

Henry Leonard Centre

PREVIEW

BAIE-COMEAU, Que. – Losers of three straight, the Baie-Comeau Drakkar will look to get back on track tonight against the Saint John Sea Dogs. Game time at the Henry Leonard Centre is 5pm AST.

The Sea Dogs blew out the Drakkar 7-0 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action last night. Seven different players - Spencer MacDonald, Kevin Gagne, Jonathan Huberdeau, Grant West, Zack Phillips, Oliver Cooper and Danick Gauthier – beat Antonio Mastropietro who made 25 stops in the loss.

It was Baie-Comeau’s first home loss of the season. They are now 9-1-0-0 at the HLC and have outscored their opponents 51-27.

Last night’s loss was Baie-Comeau’s third straight and the second straight game they have been shutout. They have been outscored 12-2 over their past three contests.

With a record of 11-7-0-0, Baie-Comeau is the basement of the tough Telus East Division with 22 points. They sit ninth overall in the league, nine points back of first-place Victoriaville.

The Sea Dogs enter play today with a record of 15-6-0-0 and sit first overall in the Maritimes Division and second overall in the league with 30 points.

Saint John played well last night, holding period leads of 3-0 and 6-0 en route to a 7-0 win. One of their keys to victory was special teams as the Dogs scored twice on three power play opportunities and killed off all four Baie-Comeau power plays.

Last night’s first period was quite chippy and some of that could carry over into today’s game. They meet again next Sunday as Saint John hosts the Drakkar at Harbour Station.

NOTES: Zack Phillips leads Saint John in scoring with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points in 16 games. Jonathan Huberdeau has 27 points and Danick Gauthier has 26… Gauthier leads the team in goals with an incredible 19 markers in 19 games. Phillips has 12 and Huberdeau has 10… Phillips and Huberdeau both have a team high 17 assists… Charles-Olivier Roussel is a team best +21. Gauthier and Huberdeau are both a +20… Ian Saab has taken a team high 62 penalty minutes… Gauthier has scored a team leading four power play goals… Phillips has taken a team high 73 shots… Gauthier’s 19 goals tie him with Bathurst’s Zach O’Brien for the league lead… Ryan Tesink and Gauther are third and fifth in the league in shorthanded goals with two each… Gauthier is second in the league in game winning goals with three… 11 of the league’s top 20 plus/minus players are Sea Dogs… Oliver Cooper is 14^th in rookie scoring with 11 points… Huberdeau leads the league in shorthanded assists with four… 6-5-0-0 on the road and have outscored their opponents 42-40… Saint John’s power play improved to 10^th in the league with a strong game last night. They are now operating at 20%... the Sea Dogs’ penalty kill is 13^th in the league with a rating of 73.7%.

INJURIES: The Sea Dogs have been hit hard with the injury bug over the past couple of weeks. Along with Stanislav Galiev’s broken wrist, Nathan Beaulieu missed last night’s game with a minor lower body injury. In the first period last night, Ryan Tesink was hit from behind and did not return.

IN NET: It will be interesting to see who Saint John starts in net today. Mathieu Corbeil has started both games on this road trip so far. He has an overall record of 12-3-0-0 to go with a 2.01 goals against average and a 0.920 save percentage.

Sebastien Auger is 3-1-0-0 with a 4.50 GAA and a 0.839 save percentage.

LAST GAME: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 7-0 win against the Drakkar last night. Spencer MacDonald, Kevin Gagne, Jonathan Huberdeau, Grant West, Zack Phillips, Oliver Cooper and Danick Gauthier all scored in the win. Mathieu Corbeil made 30 stops to pick up the shutout victory.

NOTES: Carl Gelinas leads the Drakkar in scoring 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points. Raphael Bussieres has eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points while Alexandre Durette nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points… Gelinas has scored a team high 11 goals. Durette is second with nine… Bussieres and Frederic Gamelin each have a Drakkar high 14 helpers on the year. Durette and Gelinas each have 10… Durette is a team high +13. Bussieres is a +12… Gerard is a team low -3… Gabriel Verpaelst has taken a team high 56 penalty minutes… Gelinas and Tomas Filippi have both scored four power play goals… Gelinas has taken a Baie-Comeau high 58 shots… Durette and Gelinas are ninth and 10th in the league in insurance goals with two… Baie-Comeau has the league’s fourth best power play with a rating of 27.8%... their penalty kill is ranked first with a rating of 84.4%.

IN NET: After Antonio Mastropietro allowed all seven goals last night, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Jimmy Appleby get the start in net today. He has a 5-3-0-0 record to go with a 2.09 goals against average and a 0.912 save percentage.

LAST GAME: The Drakkar fell 7-0 to the Sea Dogs last night. Antonio Mastropietro allowed seven goals on 32 shots in the loss.

Best Drakkar Video We Could Find On YouTube: Goal horn.

OTHER GAMES

Drummondville at Rimouski - 4:00 PM EDT
P.E.I. at Victoriaville - 4:00 PM EDT
Blainville-Boisbriand at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:00 PM EDT

ARENA INFO
Venue: Centre Henry Leonard
Seating Capacity: 3,042
Average Attendance: 2,174
QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE

Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM
Live Web Feed: Telus
Television: None
Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, Plein Jour de Baie-Comeau
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.

AFTER THE BUZZER

The Sea Dogs travel to PEI this Friday to take on the Rocket at 7pm.