Wednesday, March 6, 2013

GAMEDAY 63 - vs Rocket

GAMEDAY
PEI Rocket vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Tonight at 7:00pm
Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation
Harbour Station – Saint John, NB
PREVIEW
SAINT JOHN - There are six games left in the Saint John Sea Dogs’ regular season, but tonight’s contest against the PEI Rocket will be their second-to-last home game. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm.

The Sea Dogs have already clinched a playoff spot, but as we wrote about last night, they are still in battle with the Sherbrooke Phoenix for playoff/draft positioning. With six games left, the Phoenix sit in 15th-place, one-point ahead of the Sea Dogs.

Saint John enters action with a 22-39-1-0 record which places them fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 16th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Dogs have lost back-to-back games and are 2-8-0-0 in their last 10.

As the home portion of their 2012-13 schedule winds down, the Sea Dogs have a 12-20-0-0 at Harbour Station. They have been outscored 111-76.

Jakub Izacky leads the Dogs in scoring with 19 goals and 14 assists for 33 points in 57 games.

With the Rocket changing their name to “Islanders” next season, tonight’s contest will likely be the final time a team called the “PEI Rocket” plays the Sea Dogs at Harbour Station. The name won’t be missed.

PEI enters play this evening with a 35-23-3-1 record which is good for third in the Maritimes Division and seventh overall. The Rocket are in quite a battle in the middle of the standings for playoff positioning. Val-d’Or, Drummondville, Rouyn-Noranda, and PEI all have 74 points.

The Rocket have two of the league’s top scorers in Ben Duffy and Josh Currie. Duffy sits second in the league in scoring with 97 points while Currie is third with 95.

THE NUMBERS
PEISaint John
Record35-23-3-1 (3rd Maritimes)22-39-1-0 (5th Maritimes)
Home Record21-8-1-012-20-0-0
Road Record14-15-2-110-19-1-0
Goals For/Game3.73 (8th)2.56 (16th)
Goals Against/Game3.48 (10th)3.95 (14th)
Shots For/Game31.67 (7th)27.28 (14th)
Shots Against/Game31.11 (10th)35.91 (17th)
Overall PP22.2% (7th)20.9% (12th)
Home PP22.9% (8th)20.1% (12th)
Road PP21.6% (7th)21.6% (8th)
Overall PK79.2% (7th)75.8% (14th)
Home PK86.6% (1st)78.3% (13th)
Road PK74.1% (15th)73.0% (16th)
PIM/GAME17.415.8
Attendance1,7803,891

LEADING SCORERS
PEI
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
Ben Duffy62346397
Josh Currie62435295
Victor Provencher61232346

Saint John
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
Jakub Izacky57191433
Pierre Durepos3752025
Stephen Anderson57101323

GOALTENDERS
PEI
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Antoine Bibeau22-11-2-12.940.906
Maxime Lagace13-12-1-04.050.869

Saint John
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Sebastien Auger21-28-1-03.340.905
Alex Fournier1-11-0-05.500.855

LAST GAMES
The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-1 loss in Bathurst on Saturday night, a loss that saw Saint John give up 56 shots. Maxime Villemaire had the only goal for the Dogs. Alex Fournier made 52 stops in the loss.

The Rocket are coming off a 6-3 loss in Rouyn-Noranda on Saturday night. Jimmy Oligny, Ben Duffy, and Alex Micallef all scored for the Rocket. Maxime Lagace allowed five goals on 18 shots in 40 minutes of action. Antoine Bibeau allowed one of 11 shots.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Sea Dogs are 1-5-0-0 against the Rocket this season while PEI is 5-0-1-0 against Saint John.

Their last meeting was on February 16 in Charlottetown where the Rocket defeated the Sea Dogs 6-2. Louick Marcotte, Victor Provencher, Matej Beran, Erik Robichaud, Yan Pavel Laplante, and Matt Bursey all scored for the Rocket. Michael Abbott and Stephen Anderson had goals for Saint John. Alex Fournier made 32 stops in the loss while Antoine Bibeau made 25 in the win.


NOTES
  • The Sea Dogs and Rocket meet one more time this season on March 17 in Charlottetown. That is the final game of the regular season.
  • Josh Currie is fourth in the league in goal scoring with 43.
  • Ben Duffy has a league high 63 assists.
  • Duffy is sixth in power play assists with 25.
  • Currie is first in shorthanded goals with nine.
  • Louick Marcotte is fifth in first goals with seven.
  • Duffy is second in insurance goals with seven.
  • Patrick McGrath’s 161 penalty minutes is the most in the league.

OUT OF TOWN
Moncton at Cape Breton - 7:00 PM AST
Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst - 7:30 PM AST
Chicoutimi at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:00 PM EST
Rimouski at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EST
Rouyn-Noranda at Sherbrooke - 7:00 PM EST
Gatineau at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EST

NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs play their final home game of the regular season on Friday night at Harbour Station against Bathurst. Tickets are going quickly. 

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