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Friday, May 25, 2012

MEMORIAL CUP GAMEDAY: vs Shawinigan

GAMEDAY
Shawinigan Cataractes vs Saint John Sea Dogs
2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup – Round-Robin
Tonight at 8:00pm
Radio: News 88.9 | TV: Sportsnet/TVA Sports | Live Blog: SN
Centre Bionest – Shawinigan, Que.


PREVIEW
SHAWINIGAN, Que. – Here we go again.

Two days ago the Saint John Sea Dogs and Shawinigan Cataractes went to war at Centre Bionest. There was nastiness, fights, cheap shots, garbage thrown on the ice, and a war of words between coaches. Now, with both team’s seasons on the line, they meet again.

After losing 4-1to the Sea Dogs  in the final round-robin game of the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup on Wednesday, the Cataractes were forced to play the Western Hockey League champion Edmonton Oil Kings in a tie-breaker game yesterday. Shawinigan sure did deliver, pounding the Oil Kings 6-1 and earning a rematch with Saint John in tonight’s semi-final game.

The winner of tonight’s game will face the Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights in Sunday’s Championship Game. The Sea Dogs lost 5-3 to the Knights in the round-robin while the Cataractes beat them 6-2.

Shawinigan will be playing their third game in three nights tonight. They’ll be in tough, but given that this team had a month off before the tournament should benefit them in this situation. Plus, last night’s game wasn’t as grueling as it could have been since the Cats had basically won the game before the halfway mark. 

The Cats are 2-2 at the Memorial Cup with wins over London and Edmonton and loses to Edmonton and Saint John. They’ve outscored opponents 16-11 over the four games. Their 16 goals are the most by any team in the tournament.

The Sea Dogs are 2-1 with wins over Shawinigan and Edmonton and a loss to London. They’ve outscored opponents 12-8 over their three games. Their +6 goal differential is the best in the tournament.

After what went down on Wednesday and what has gone down all year between these franchises, it seems only fitting that they meet in an elimination game the Memorial Cup. Winner plays for a national title while the loser heads for the off-season.

PLAYOFF NUMBERS
Saint JohnShawinigan
Record16-17-4
Home Record9-04-2
Road Record7-13-2
Goals For/Game5.75 (1st)4.21 (3rd)
Goals Against/Game2.18 (1st)2.51 (2nd)
Shots For/Game35.38 (2nd)37.88 (1st)
Shots Against/Game26.11 (3rd)25.52 (1st)
Overall PP28.2% (2nd)15.1% (14th)
Home PP39% (1st)25.0% (9th)
Road PP13.3% (12th)4.0% (16th)
Overall PK88.2% (1st)83.3% (3rd)
Home PK82.1% (7th)77.3% (10th)
Road PK94.6% (1st)90.0% (2nd)
PIM/GAME16.1 (8th)17.1 (6th)
Attendance5,522 (3rd)3,961 (7th)

LEADING SCORERS – PLAYOFFS
Shawinigan
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
Kirill Kabanov114913
Michael Chaput114812
Yannick Veilleux115611

Saint John
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
Stanislav Galiev17161834
Charlie Coyle17151934
Zack Phillips1792332

GOALTENDERS - PLAYOFFS
Shawinigan
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Gabriel Girard4-0-0-02.860.886
Alex Dubeau3-3-1-02.080.919

Saint John
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Mathieu Corbeil16-0-1-02.180.917
Sebastien Auger0-0-0-0- - -- - -

SEASON SERIES
These teams have now played each other five times this year heading into tonight’s contest. Neither team has won back-to-back meetings. Here are the results from the five previous games.

December 3, 2011 at Saint John – Cataractes 2, Sea Dogs 3 (OT)
January 12, 2012 at Saint John – Cataractes 4, Sea Dogs 1
February 4, 2012 at Shawinigan – Sea Dogs 2, Cataractes 1
March 11, 2012 – Sea Dogs 2, Cataractes 6
May 23, 2012 – Cataractes 1, Sea Dogs 4

A look back at the four regular season matches can befound here.

WEDNESDAY
If you need a reminder of what went on during Wednesday's game, here you go.



Both teams were fined $2,500 yesterday.

GIRARD
Gabriel Girard will get the start in net for Shawinigan again tonight. He’s been one of the better netminders at this year’s tournament, going 2-1 with a 2.00 goals against average and a 0.935 save percentage. His lone loss was in the game against Saint John.

LEADERS
This game will feature the tournament’s best offensive players so far. Michael Chaput (8), Jonathan Huberdeau (6), and Brandon Gormley (6) are all top three in tournament scoring.

Huberdeau leads the Memorial Cup in goals with four while Ryan Tesink, Michael Chaput, and Anton Zlobin are all tied for second with three each.

Chaput leads the way in assists with five. Charlie Coyle is tied with Gormley for second with four and Nathan Beaulieu is fourth with three.

WHERE TO WATCH
The qplex will be showing tonight’s game on a big screen and admission is free.

All the sports bars in the city should be showing the game as well. Plenty of places to watch with others.

NOTES

NEXT GAME
Sea Dogs win and they’ll play the London Knights for the Memorial Cup on Sunday. Sea Dogs lose and the off-season begins.

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