GAMEDAY 27 - at PEI

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs PEI Rocket

Tonight, November 18, 2011 at 7pm

Charlottetown Civic Centre

PREVIEW

CHARLOTTETOWN – Winners of six straight, the Saint John Sea Dogs open up a road stretch this evening against the PEI Rocket. Game time is 7pm at the Charlottetown Civic Centre.

Tonight’s game kicks of a stretch that will see the Sea Dogs play three road games in five days. After tonight’s tilt, the Dogs play in Bathurst on Sunday and in Quebec City this Tuesday.

Saint John enters play this evening with a 20-6-0-0 record, good for first in the Maritimes Division and top spot in the entire Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. They are three points up on the second-place Quebec Remparts.

The Sea Dogs haven’t been playing their best the past few games but are still winning. They have won six straight and are 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 games.

On the road, Saint John is 8-5-0-0 and have outscored their opponents 52-45. Their last road contest was one week ago tonight in Charlottetown when they defeated the Rocket 7-3. The Dogs will be looking for a repeat performance this evening.

The Rocket sit last in the entire QMJHL with a record of 6-17-2-1. They have 15 points on the year and sit one-point back of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for the final playoff spot.

PEI has lost five straight going into tonight and are a woeful 2-7-1-0 in their past 10 games.

At the CCC this season, the Rocket are 3-6-2-1 and have been outscored 51-42.

This is the third meeting of the season between Saint John and PEI. The Sea Dogs have won all three by scores of 5-3, 10-3, and 7-3.

NOTES: Zack Phillips leads Saint John in scoring with 14 goals and 23 assists for 27 points on the year. Danick Gauthier is second with 36 points and Tomas Jurco is third with 30… Gauthier leads Saint John in goal scoring with 23 markers on the season. Phillips is second with 14… Phillips leads the team in assists with 23. Jonathan Huberdeau is second with 18… Gauthier leads the team with a +24 rating… Ian Saab has served a team leading 73 penalty minutes… Gauthier has scored five power play goals… Phillips has taken a team high 92 shots… Gauthier’s 23 goals are a league high… Phillips’ three assists place him fourth in the league… Gauthier is tied for the league high in game-winning goals with four… Gauthier is third in first goals with four… Saint John’s power play is ranked eighth in the league with a rating of 24.4%... their penalty kill is operating at 74.8%, good for 12^th in the league.

IN NET: Mathieu Corbeil will likely get the start in goal this evening. The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect has a record of 15-3-0-0 with a 2.18 goals against average and a 0.916 save percentage.

TESINK: It was reported on Wednesday that forward Ryan Tesink could play tonight. The Saint John native has not played since November 4 due to an ‘upper-body’ injury.

The Sea Dogs will once again be without the services of Jonathan Huberdeau (broken foot) and Stanislav Galiev (broken wrist).

LAST GAME: Saint John is coming off a 4-3 win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Wednesday at Harbour Station. Zack Phillips scored twice while Danick Gauthier and Charles-Olivier Roussel added singles. Mathieu Corbeil made 27 saves for the win.

NOTES: Ben Duffy leads the Rocket in scoring with 10 goals and 24 assists for 34 points on the season. Matej Beran is second on the squad in points with 22 while Victor Provencher has 20… Beran and Provencher each have a team leading 13 goals on the season. Duffy is third with 10… Duffy has a Rocket high 24 helpers. The next closest is Marc-Andre Levesque’s 12 assists… Tomas Pavelka is a team worst -21… Patrick McGrath has served a team high 53 penalty minutes… Beran has scored six power play goals… Duffy has taken a team high 78 shots…Duffy’s 24 assists are good for third in the league… Beran’s 22 points place him seventh in rookie scoring… Pier-Antoine Dion is third in the league in shorthanded assists with three… the Rocket’s power play sits 11^th in the league with a rating of 21.5%... PEI has the league’s worst penalty kill. It is operating at 70.7%.

IN NET: Maxime Lagace will likely get the start in goal. He is 5-15-2-0 with a 4.30 goals against average and a 0.882 save percentage.

LAST GAME: PEI is coming off a 4-3 loss in Cape Breton on Wednesday. Matej Beran scored twice for PEI while Alex Noel added a solo marker. Maxime Lagace made 35 stops in the loss.

Best Rocket Video We Could Find On YouTube: The 2009 Rocket home opener. Unreal light show.

OTHER GAMES

Victoriaville at Acadie-Bathurst - 7:30 PM AST

Halifax at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EST

Val-d'Or at Gatineau - 7:00 PM EST

Shawinigan at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EST

Quebec at Rimouski - 7:30 PM EST

THE RINK

Venue: Charlottetown Civic Centre

Capacity: 3,718

Average Attendance: 1,608

QMJHL Arena Guide

MEDIA GUIDE

Radio (Sea Dogs): News 88.9 FM

Live Web Feed: Telus

Television: Eastlink TV in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island will broadcast the game.

Post-Game Coverage: Station Nation, Telegraph-Journal, The Guardian

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.

TOMORROW
From RBC and Prokids:

Please help us help Prokids by donating your gently used Hockey Equipment and you will receive a ballot for a chance to win our Family Night out Basket for 4
 Join us on Saturday November 19^th from 12-3 for some games and prizes and snacks. We will do our draw on that day
 Lets work together as a community to help kids play hockey
 Thank you for your support and donations

AFTER THE BUZZER

The Sea Dogs travel to Bathurst to take on the Titan on Sunday afternoon at 4pm.