GAMEDAY 6 - vs Mooseheads

GAMEDAY

Halifax Mooseheads vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Tonight at 7:30pm

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

Harbour Station – Saint John, NB

PREVIEW

SAINT JOHN – Winners of four straight, the Saint John Sea Dogs put their winning streak on the line tonight against the Halifax Mooseheads. Game time is 7:30pm at Harbour Station.

This will be the first meeting between the Sea Dogs and Mooseheads this season and they will meet again tomorrow night at the Halifax Metro Centre. Saint John has dominated Halifax over the past few seasons but that will likely change this year. According to Metro Halifax, “Saint John has won 25 of the past 27 head-to-head matchups, out-scoring Halifax 134-60 with an average margin of victory of 5-2."

The Sea Dogs are off to a solid 4-1-0-0 start which includes two wins over the Moncton Wildcats, a team expected to be in the upper tier of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this season. Tonight they’ll get their toughest test of the season though, facing off against the Mooseheads.

The Herd made it all the way to the semi-finals last season and they are expected to go even further this year. Their lineup is loaded with talent much like Sea Dogs teams over the past few seasons have been. They are led by “the big three” draft eligible players – Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin, and Zach Fucale.

Drouin currently leads the Moose in scoring with three goals and seven assists in five games. MacKinnon is second with four goals and four assists. Fucale has gotten off to an okay start, currently possessing a 4-1 record to go with a 2.58 goals against average and a 0.885 save percentage.

Halifax is 4-1-0-0 on the season and sit atop the Telus Maritimes Division standings with Saint John with eight points. The Moose have outscored opponents 22-14.

The Sea Dogs are led by returning players Jonathan Huberdeau and Ryan Tesink who both have eight points. Huberdeau has five goals and three assists while Tesink has four goals and four assists. Goaltender Sebastien Auger has been terrific, recording a 4-1 record to accompany a 1.78 GAA and 0.944 SV%.

THE NUMBERS

	Halifax	Saint John
Record	4-1-0-0 (2nd Maritimes)	4-1-0-0 (1st Maritimes)
Home Record	2-1-0-0	2-1-0-0
Road Record	2-0-0-0	2-0-0-0
Goals For/Game	4.31 (3rd)	3.16 (9th)
Goals Against/Game	2.74 (8th)	1.78 (2nd)
Shots For/Game	39.57 (1st)	30.24 (10th)
Shots Against/Game	23.70 (3rd)	31.83 (12th)
Overall PP	12.5% (14th)	17.1% (10th)
Home PP	7.1% (16th)	30% (6th)
Road PP	20% (5th)	0.00% (16th)
Overall PK	90.9% (2nd)	84.6% (7th)
Home PK	85.7% (10th)	69.2% (17th)
Road PK	100% (2nd)	100% (1st)
PIM/GAME	14.2	18.0
Attendance	7,883	3,765

LEADING SCORERS

Halifax

Player	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Jonathan Drouin	5	3	7	10
Nathan MacKinnon	5	4	4	8
Brent Andrews	5	2	3	5

Saint John

Player	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Jonathan Huberdeau	5	5	3	8
Ryan Tesink	5	4	4	8
Stephen MacAulay	3	2	2	4

GOALTENDERS

Halifax

Goaltender	Record	GAA	SV%
Zach Fucale	4-1-0-0	2.58	0.885
Chris Clarke	0-0-0-0	4.50	0.882

Saint John

Goaltender	Record	GAA	SV%
Sebastien Auger	3-1-0-0	1.78	0.944
Alex Fournier	0-0-0-0	- - -	- - -

LAST GAMES

The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-1 victory over the Moncton Wildcats last Sunday. Jonathan Huberdeau, Jason Cameron, Ryan Tesink, Oliver Cooper, and Stephen Anderson scored for Saint John. Devon Oliver-Dares had two assists. Sebastien Auger made 42 saves in the win.

The Mooseheads are coming off a 6-2 victory over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Tuesday at the Metro Centre. Ryan Falkenham, Dominic Beauchemin, Randy Gazzola, Jonathan Drouin, Stefan Fournier, and Martin Frk scored for Halifax. Zach Fucale made 28 saves for the win.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Sea Dogs went 7-1-0-0 against the Mooseheads last season while Halifax went 1-7-0-0 against Saint John.

Their last meeting was on March 14 at the Metro Centre when the Dogs pounded the Moose 6-1. Ryan Tesink scored a pair of goals while singles came from Danick Gauthier, Jonathan Huberdeau, Charlie Coyle, and Grant West. Halifax’s lone goal came from Alexandre Grenier. Mathieu Corbeil made 17 saves for the win. Zach Fucale allowed five goals on 38 shots before being replaced by Marc-Olivier Daigle who allowed a goal on six shots.

AUGER

Sebastien Auger was named the QMJHL’s third star of the week and the CHL Goaltender of the Week for his play over the past three Sea Dogs games. He currently has a record of 4-1-0-0 to go with a 1.78 goals against average and a 0.944 save percentage. His save percentage is second best in the league.

DUDA

The Sea Dogs officially signed free agent American defenseman Steven Duda yesterday. He’s expected to play tonight. He should give a boost to a defense that is currently missing Pierre Durepos and David Weckworth to injuries and Kevin Gagne to Hamilton Bulldogs camp.

NOTES

• This is the first October game of the year for the Sea Dogs. Saint John will play 11 games this month.
• Nathan MacKinnon is on the cover of the latest edition of The Hockey News. So that’s cool.
• Jonathan Huberdeau is on a four-game goal scoring streak.
• The Mooseheads were ranked 7^th in the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 this week.
• Halifax is 2-0 on the road this year.
• There are eight games in the league tonight but this will be the only one played in the Maritimes.

OTHER GAMES

Victoriaville at Quebec - 7:00 PM EDT

Acadie-Bathurst at Baie-Comeau - 7:30 PM EDT

P.E.I. at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:30 PM EDT

Moncton at Chicoutimi - 7:30 PM EDT

Shawinigan at Drummondville - 7:30 PM EDT

Sherbrooke at Gatineau - 7:30 PM EDT

Cape Breton at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:30 PM EDT

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs travel to Halifax to take on the Mooseheads tomorrow night.