GAMEDAY 30: vs Screaming Eagles

GAMEDAY

Cape Breton Screaming Eagles vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight, November 25, 2011 at 7:30pm

Harbour Station

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN – The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles fly into town to kick of weekend doubleheader against the Saint John Sea Dogs. The two meet tonight at 7:30pm and tomorrow evening at 7pm.

The Sea Dogs are coming off back-to-back loses. The team fell 6-5 in a shootout in Bathurst on Sunday and then 4-1 in Quebec City on Tuesday. Before the two loses, Saint John had won seven straight.

Despite the recent struggles, the Sea Dogs still sit first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with a record of 21-7-0-1 for 43 points. The Quebec Remparts – who have played two fewer games – also have 43 points.

Saint John is still sporting a depleted lineup due to injuries. Jonathan Huberdeau (foot), Stanislav Galiev (wrist), Tomas Jurco (hip flexor) and Aidan Kelly (upper-body) all missed Tuesday’s game against the Remparts.

Cape Breton enters play today with an 11-15-0-1 record for 23 points. They sit fifth in the Maritimes Division and 15^th overall in the QMJHL. The Eagles have lost two straight and are 4-6-0-0 in their last 10 games.

Away from Centre 200 this year, the Eagles are 4-9-0-1 and have been outscored 59-35.

The Sea Dogs and Eagles have met twice previously this season. On September 16 at Centre 200, Cape Breton won a wild 8-5 game, a match that the Sea Dogs played without their NHL affiliated players. Then on October 28 at Harbour Station, the Sea Dogs got some revenge by beating the visitors 6-3.

NOTES: Jonathan Brunelle leads the Eagles in scoring with eight goals and 22 assists for 30 points. David Rose is second with 29 points while William Carrier is third with 22… Denis Kindl leads Cape Breton in goal scoring with 11 markers on the year. Dany Potvin is second with 10… Brunelle and Rose each have a team high 22 assists. Carrier is third with 13… Kyle Farrell is a team best +5… Brunelle ad Logan Shaw are both an Eagles worst -14… Morgan Ellis has scored six power play goals… Brunelle has taken a team high 110 shots… Ellis’s six power play goals are good for 15^th in the league… Brunelle is sixth in power play assists with 13… Kindl is 12^th in the league in first goals with three… Cape Breton has the 15^th best power play in the league with a rating of 19%... their penalty kill is running at 74.6% which is good for 12^th in the Q.

IN NET: Alexandre Veronneau has played the most minutes for the Eagles this season. He is 7-9-0-0 with a 4.23 goals against average and a 0.842 save percentage.

KINDL: The QMJHL website posted an article on Denis Kindl yesterday.

The native of Pardubice, Czech Republic had a strong start to the season. He was the club’s leading scorer until running into an upper body injury that resulted in his missing two games at the start of November. He returned to action last week and looks to continue filling the net. 

Kindl has nine goals and nine assists in 22 games, which included an eight-game point streak.

LAST GAME: The Eagles are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads last night at the Metro Centre. Dany Potvin scored the lone goal for Cape Breton. Philippe Trudeau allowed four goals on 35 shots in the loss.

Best Screaming Eagles Video We Could Find On YouTube: Easy choice.

NOTES: Zack Phillips leads Saint John in scoring with 15 goals and 28 assists for 43 points. Danick Gauthier is second with 38 while Tomas Jurco has 33… Gauthier has scored a team high 24 goals. Jurco has 16 and Phillips has 15… Phillips has a team high 28 assists. Jonathan Huberdeau is second with 18… Phillips is a team best +26… Ian Saab has served a team high 77 penalty minutes… Gauthier and Jurco each have six power play goals… Phillips has taken a team high 100 shots… Gauthier and Zach O’Brien are tied for the league lead in goals with 24… Phillips is third in the Q in assists with 28… Gauthier leads the league in game winning goals with five… Gauthier is fourth in the league in first goals with five… Jurco is third in insurance goals with three… Saint John has been dominant on home ice this season, going 12-1-0-0 and outscoring opponents 72-31… the Sea Dogs’ power play is ranked ninth in the league with a rating of 23.5%... their penalty kill is operating at 73.8%, good for 14^th in the league.

IN NET: Mathieu Corbeil will likely get the start in goal for Saint John. The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect has a 16-4-0-0 record to go with a 2.22 goals against average and a 0.916 save percentage.

STREAK: Forward Zack Phillips enters play today on a 17-game point streak. He has 11 goals and 22 assists over that span.

LAST GAME: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Remparts in Quebec City on Tuesday night. Zack Phillips had the lone goal for Saint John. Mathieu Corbeil allowed four goals on 33 shots in the loss.

OTHER GAMES

P.E.I. at Halifax - 7:00 PM AST

Quebec at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EST

Rimouski at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:30 PM EST

Shawinigan at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EST

Baie-Comeau at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:30 PM EST

Acadie-Bathurst at Val-d'Or - 7:30 PM EST

THE RINK

Venue: Harbour Station

Capacity: 6,297

Average Attendance: 4,041

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, Cape Breton Post

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.

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs and Eagles meet again tomorrow night at Harbour Station at 7pm.