PLAYOFF GAMEDAY 13: Round 3, Game 5 - vs Sagueneens

GAMEDAY

Round 3, Game 5

Chicoutimi Sagueneens vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight at 7:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live Blog: SN

Harbour Station – Saint John, NB

SERIES STATUS

Saint John leads the best-of-seven semifinal playoff series 3-1.

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN – Something rare could happen tonight at Harbour Station.

The Saint John Sea Dogs, leading the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League semifinal 3-1, have a chance to eliminate the Chicoutimi Sagueneens tonight. Only twice in franchise history have the Sea Dogs won a playoff series on home ice.

The last time they clinched a series on home ice was back in 2010 when they defeated the Victoriaville Tigres in six games. Earlier that year in the first round, the Sea Dogs eliminated the PEI Rocket in five games with the deciding game being played at Harbour Station.

The Sea Dogs have had other chances to wrap up a series on home ice. They dropped Game 5 of the 2008 quarterfinals against Bathurst and missed a chance to win the President’s Cup on home ice in Game 5 of last year’s final against Gatineau.

Saint John has won six straight playoff series but have clinched every single one on the road. Tonight, they could end that streak with a victory. Game time is 7pm.

Chicoutimi is certainly giving the Dogs a good run in this series. After Saint John won the first two games by three goals each, the last two have both gone to overtime. The Sags won 5-4 on Tuesday and then the Dogs won 3-2 on Thursday.

The Sags looked like a different team in Games 3 and 4. Their big guns – Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Charles Hudon, Christian Ouellet, etc. – were all rolling. It looked like they really benefited from the larger ice surface but they’ll have to find a way to get going tonight on Harbour Station ice if they want to stay alive.

If the Sea Dogs win tonight, they will advance to the President’s Cup Final for a third straight year. If the Sagueneens win, Game 6 will be on Monday night in Chicoutimi.

PLAYOFF NUMBERS

	Saint John	Chicoutimi
Record	11-1-0-0	9-8-0-0
Home Record	6-0-0-0	5-3-0-0
Road Record	5-1-0-0	4-5-0-0
Goals For/Game	6.46 (1st)	3.02 (9th)
Goals Against/Game	2.29 (1st)	3.20 (7th)
Shots For/Game	37.29 (2nd)	27.04 (11th)
Shots Against/Game	26.01 (3rd)	31.81 (9th)
Overall PP	29.5% (1st)	17.1% (13th)
Home PP	40.0% (1st)	12.1% (13th)
Road PP	15.4% (11th)	21.6% (7th)
Overall PK	88.9% (1st)	83.1% (4th)
Home PK	82.1% (7th)	93.8% (2nd)
Road PK	96.2% (1st)	74.4% (10th)
PIM/GAME	16.9 (9th)	16.2 (10th)
Attendance	5,110 (3rd)	3,983 (5th)

LEADING SCORERS – PLAYOFFS

Chicoutimi

Player	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Christian Ouellet	17	13	5	18
Guillaume Asselin	17	6	11	17
Jean-Gabriel Pageau	15	4	10	14

Saint John

Player	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Charlie Coyle	12	13	15	28
Zack Phillips	12	6	19	25
Stanislav Galiev	12	10	14	24

GOALTENDERS - PLAYOFFS

Chicoutimi

Goaltender	Record	GAA	SV%
Christopher Gibson	9-5-3-0	3.10	0.902
Francois Desrosiers	0-0-0-0	5.20	0.846

Saint John

Goaltender	Record	GAA	SV%
Mathieu Corbeil	11-0-1-0	2.29	0.912
Sebastien Auger	0-0-0-0	- - -	- - -

PLAYOFF SERIES

GAME ONE – Chicoutimi 1, Saint John 4

GAME TWO – Chicoutimi 2, Saint John 5

GAME THREE – Saint John 4, Chicoutimi 5 (OT)

GAME FOUR – Saint John 3, Chicoutimi 2 (OT)

GAME FIVE – Saturday, April 28: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station

*GAME SIX – Monday, April 30: 8:30 p.m. @ Centre Georges-Vezina

*GAME SEVEN – Tuesday, May 1: 7 p.m. @ Harbour Station

SEASON SERIES

October 29 – Chicoutimi 0, Saint John 6

December 4 – Chicoutimi 8, Saint John 3

March 9 – Saint John 3, Chicoutimi 4 (SO)

NOTES

• Charlie Coyle leads the league in playoff scoring with 28 points in 12 games.
• Coyle is tied with Christian Ouellet and Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead in goals with 13.
• Zack Phillips has a league best 19 assists.
• Ouellet is tied for the league lead in power play goals with five.
• Coyle is tied for the lead in game winning goals with four.
• Coyle is a league best +23.
• Steve Lebel is the only player in the league with two shorthanded assists

OTHER SERIES

In the other semifinal, Rimouski leads Halifax 3-2. The Oceanic can clinch that series with a win on Sunday at the Metro Centre.

NEXT GAME

If Saint John loses tonight, Game 6 is on Monday night in Chicoutimi. If Saint John wins, the President’s Cup Final will likely begin on Friday at Harbour Station.