GAMEDAY
Moncton Wildcats vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Tonight at 7pm
Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live Blog:
SN
Harbour Station – Saint John, NB
PREVIEW
SAINT JOHN – The “transitioning” Saint John Sea Dogs host
the revamped Moncton Wildcats tonight at 7pm at Harbour Station. It’s the first
time the two rivals have met this season.
The Sea Dogs and Wildcats have different looks this season compared to last. The teams moved in different directions as Saint John got
younger and began rebuilding while Moncton acquired experience and is expected
to contend for a league title this year.
There will be plenty of familiar faces in the new look
Wildcats lineup though. Alex Dubeau, Yannick Veilleux, and Jonathan Racine all
played with the Shawinigan Cataractes last year. Those additions should help
the Wildcats and the Moncton-Saint John rivalry.
Moncton hasn’t gotten off to a roaring start. They are
1-1-0-0 following a 6-2 loss to the PEI Rocket in Charlottetown on Friday and a
5-4 shootout win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in Sydney on Sunday.
Not surprisingly, the Saulnier twins and new import
forward Dmitri Jaskin have been the biggest offensive contributors so far. Alex
Saulnier has three points while Allain and Jaskin have two.
The Sea Dogs are also off to a 1-1-0-0 start. They lost
3-1 to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Thursday at Harbour Station and then defeated
the Titan 3-2 in overtime on Friday at the KC Irving Regional Centre.
Saint John’s offense has revolved around its returning
veteran players so far. Jonathan Huberdeau and Ryan Tesink each have three
points while Kevin Gagne and Stephen MacAulay have two.
| Moncton | Saint John | |
| Record | 1-1-0-0 (6th Maritimes) | 1-1-0-0 (3rd Maritimes) |
| Home Record | 0-0-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
| Road Record | 1-1-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Goals For/Game | 3.36 (7th) | 1.94 (15th) |
| Goals Against/Game | 4.80 (16th) | 2.43 (6th) |
| Shots For/Game | 26.00 (3rd) | 31.08 (9th) |
| Shots Against/Game | 24.96 (4th) | 29.14 (10th) |
| Overall PP | 8.3% (14th) | 7.1% (15th) |
| Home PP | - - - | 16.7% (8th) |
| Road PP | 8.3% (7th) | 0.00% (10th) |
| Overall PK | 60.0% (17th) | 77.8% (11th) |
| Home PK | - - - | 33.3% (11th) |
| Road PK | 60.0% (10th) | 100% (1st) |
| PIM/GAME | 22.5 | 17.5 |
| Attendance | 4,193 (2nd) | - - - |
LEADING SCORERS
Moncton
| Player | GP | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Alex Saulnier | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Dmitri Jaskin | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Allain Saulnier | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Saint John
| Player | GP | Goals | Assists | Points |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Ryan Tesink | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Kevin Gagne | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
GOALTENDERS
Moncton
| Goaltender | Record | GAA | SV% |
| Alex Dubeau | 1-1-0-0 | 4.84 | 0.808 |
| John Chartrand | 0-0-0-0 | - - - | - - - |
Saint John
| Goaltender | Record | GAA | SV% |
| Sebastien Auger | 1-1-0-0 | 2.45 | 0.917 |
| Alex Fournier | 0-0-0-0 | - - - | - - - |
LAST GAMES
The Sea Dogs are coming off a 3-2 overtime win over the Titan
in Bathurst on Friday night. Jonathan Huberdeau, Kevin Gagne, and Oliver Cooper
scored for Saint John. Ryan Tesink had three assists. Sebastien Auger made 29
saves in net for the win.
The Wildcats are coming off a 5-4 shootout win over the
Screaming Eagles in Cape Breton on Sunday. Dmitri Jaskin scored twice while
Alex and Allain Saulnier added singles. Jaskin, Yannick Veilleux, and Ivan
Barbashev scored in the shootout. Alex Dubeau made 23 saves in net for the win.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Sea Dogs went 0-2 against the Wildcats in pre-season
action, losing 3-0 and 5-3.
Saint John went 6-2-0-0 against Moncton last season while
the Wildcats went 2-3-1-2 against the Sea Dogs.
These two last played each other in regular season action
was on February 28 at Harbour Station. Charlie Coyle, Jonathan Huberdeau, Maxime
Villemaire, Nathan Beaulieu, and Stanislav Galiev scored in Saint John’s 5-3
victory. Marek Hrivik, Devon MacAusland, and Christophe Lalonde scored for
Moncton. Mathieu Corbeil made 18 saves for the Dogs while Roman Will made 36
for the ‘Cats.
IMPORTS
Moncton’s new import players should be fun to watch
tonight. Dmitri Jaskin looked solid in the pre-season against Saint John and
already has two goals in two games this regular season. He is a St. Louis Blues
prospect.
Then there is Ivan Barbashev who was the first overall
pick in the CHL Import Draft. He has one assists so far.
NOTES
- Sea Dogs magnetic schedules will be available at the game tonight.
- This is the first game of the annual Rivalry Cup. No clue what the point format is.
- From Neil Hodge of the Times & Transcript: “Moncton had a rebuilding club and it managed just two wins in 16 games against Saint John over the past two seasons, but there were eight losses by a one-goal margin. The Wildcats were 2-3-1-2 in 2010-11 and 0-5-2-1 last season in the head-to-head meetings between these clubs.”
- The Wildcats are starting the season with three straight road games. They make their home debut on Friday.
- For the first time in a long time, this Wildcats team shouldn’t put you to sleep. So that’s good.
- Olivier Leblanc is the only new Sea Dog to record a point so far this year.
- Forward Stephen MacAulay and defenseman Kevin Gagne leave for Hamilton Bulldogs training camp tomorrow.
- These teams meet again on Sunday afternoon in Moncton.
OTHER GAMES
Cape Breton at Acadie-Bathurst - 7:30 PM ADT
Rouyn-Noranda at Sherbrooke - 7:00 PM EDT
Victoriaville at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EDT
NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs host the Gatineau Olympiques on Saturday at
7pm at the Station.
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