GAMEDAY 50 - at Shawinigan

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Shawinigan Cataractes

Today at 5:00pm

Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation

Centre Bionest – Shawinigan, Que.

PREVIEW

SHAWINIGAN, Que. – A lot has changed since the last time the Saint John Sea Dogs and Shawinigan Cataractes met at Centre Bionest.

The two teams are just shells of their former selves. The last time they met in Shawinigan was in May in the Memorial Cup semi-final game where both teams were battling for a spot in the national final. Today, both are fighting for a playoff spot.

A year ago at this time Saint John and Shawinigan were battling for first overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Now they sit 15^th and 17^th overall, respectively. That’s junior hockey for ya. The players have changed. The coaches have changed. But hopefully the rivalry these two teams built will continue.

Saint John enters play today with a 19-30-0-0 record which places them fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 15^th overall. The Sea Dogs have hit rough waters over the past month as they have lost five straight and are just 1-9-0-0 in their past 10 games.

This is the final game of a three-game Quebec road trip for Saint John. They lost 2-1 in Victoriaville on Wednesday and 6-3 in Gatineau last night. They are 9-16-0-0 on the road this season. As Tim Roszell said during last night’s broadcast, games like today's are games the Sea Dogs need to pick up points in.

Jakub Izacky leads Saint John in scoring with 15 goals and nine assists for 24 points in 44 games. Stephen Anderson has had a strong road trip so far, recording two goals and an assist.

Shawinigan currently sits out of the playoff picture with an 11-32-4-2 record which places them last in the Telus East Division and 17^th overall in the league. They are six points back of the Sherbrooke Phoenix who hold the final playoff spot.

The 2012 Memorial Cup winners have had a good stretch of games recently. They are 3-6-1-0 in their last 10 contests and are 1-0-1-0 in their last two games.

Shawinigan has struggled to score much like Saint John and have a league low 109 goals for this season. Peter Sakaris leads the team in scoring with 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points in 47 games.

THE NUMBERS

	Shawinigan	Saint John
Record	11-32-4-2 (6th East)	19-30-0-0 (5th Maritimes)
Home Record	5-15-4-1	10-14-0-0
Road Record	6-17-0-1	9-16-0-0
Goals For/Game	2.20 (18th)	2.57 (15th)
Goals Against/Game	4.01 (16th)	3.84 (15th)
Shots For/Game	25.24 (18th)	27.15 (14th)
Shots Against/Game	34.35 (14th)	34.45 (16th)
Overall PP	14.8% (17th)	20.0% (13th)
Home PP	16.8% (15th)	20.0% (12th)
Road PP	12.7% (17th)	20.0% (9th)
Overall PK	71.2% (18th)	75.3% (16th)
Home PK	73.3% (18th)	78.6% (12th)
Road PK	69.1% (18th)	72.2% (17th)
PIM/GAME	14.0	16.0
Attendance	3,105	3,797

LEADING SCORERS
Shawinigan

Player	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Peter Sakaris	47	15	20	35
Frederick Gaudreau	49	11	20	31
Vincent Arseneau	48	14	11	25

Saint John

Player	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Jonathan Huberdeau	30	16	29	45
Jakub Izacky	44	15	9	24
Pierre Durepos	26	4	12	16

GOALTENDERS
Shawinigan

Goaltender	Record	GAA	SV%
Marvin Cupper	9-21-2-1	3.63	0.895
Hugo Campeau	2-6-2-1	3.54	0.896

Saint John

Goaltender	Record	GAA	SV%
Sebastien Auger	19-22-0-0	3.22	0.906
Alex Fournier	0-8-0-0	5.91	0.833

LAST GAMES

The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-3 loss in Gatineau last night. Stephen Anderson, Olivier LeBlanc, and Marcus Cuomo all scored for Saint John while Alex Fournier made 20 saves in the loss.

The Cataractes are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to the red hot Moncton Wildcats last night. Zachary Taylor netted Shawinigan’s only goal of the game. Hugo Campeau made 39 saves in the loss.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Sea Dogs are 0-1-0-0 against the Cataractes this season while Shawinigan is 1-0-0-0 against Saint John.

Their only previous meeting this season came way back on November 4 where the Cataractes defeated the Sea Dogs 3-2 at Harbour Station. Olivier Jodoin, Frederick Gaudreau, and JC Campagna scored for Shawinigan while Saint John had goals from Jonathan Huberdeau and Ryan Tesink. Alex Fournier allowed two goals on seven shots and was pulled after one. Sebastien Auger made 19 saves in relief. Marvin Cupper made 25 stops for the win.

NOTES

• Sebastien Auger will likely start in goal today.
• Shawinigan goaltender Marvin Cupper played for Germany at the world juniors.
• The Cataractes gave certainly had success at the gate since winning the Memorial Cup last May. They are averaging 3,105 fans per game which is good for 7^th in the league.
• This is Saint John’s final regular season game in Quebec this year.

OUT OF TOWN

Acadie-Bathurst at Baie-Comeau - 4:00 PM EST

Moncton at Drummondville - 4:00 PM EST

Val-d'Or at Rimouski - 4:00 PM EST

Victoriaville at Sherbrooke - 4:00 PM EST

Rouyn-Noranda at Gatineau - 7:00 PM EST

Blainville-Boisbriand at Quebec - 7:00 PM EST

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs host the PEI Rocket on Thursday night at Harbour Station.