GAMEDAY 66 - at Moncton

GAMEDAY

Saint John Sea Dogs vs Moncton Wildcats

Tonight at 7:00pm

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

Moncton Coliseum – Moncton, NB

PREVIEW

MONCTON – The Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats meet tonight in what is a crucial game for both teams. Game time is 7pm at the Moncton Coliseum.

For the Sea Dogs, they are still one-point back of the Sherbrooke Phoenix for 15^th overall in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. A win by Saint John this evening would put them one-point ahead of Sherbrooke. The Dogs have three games remaining in the regular season while the Phoenix have two.

Saint John enters action tonight with a 23-41-1-0 record which places them fifth in the Telus Maritimes Division and 16^th overall. They are 2-8-0-0 in their last 10 games.

For the Wildcats, they are in a battle for playoff positioning in the upper half of the standings. They currently sit sixth overall, one-point ahead of the PEI Rocket and two points back of the Quebec Remparts. Moncton has three games left on their regular season schedule. Check out how close the standings are:

Moncton is 40-22-2-1 which places them second in the Maritimes Division. Their last few games certainly haven’t helped them in the standings. They have lost four straight (0-2-1-1) and are 6-2-1-1 in their last 10 games.

Wildcats leading scoring, league MVP nominee, and St. Louis Blues prospect Dmitrij Jaskin has not played since Friday due to an injury. They’ve also been without their No. 1 goaltender, Alex Dubeau, since Friday.

While tonight’s game looks like a mismatch on paper, Saint John is 5-2-0-0 against Moncton this season. Tonight is their final meeting.

THE NUMBERS

	Moncton	Saint John
Record	40-22-2-1 (2nd Maritimes)	23-41-1-0 (5th Maritimes)
Home Record	25-6-1-1	13-21-0-0
Road Record	15-16-1-0	10-20-1-0
Goals For/Game	3.99 (5th)	2.53 (16th)
Goals Against/Game	3.00 (5th)	3.88 (13th)
Shots For/Game	35.48 (3rd)	27.48 (14th)
Shots Against/Game	26.94 (5th)	36.18 (18th)
Overall PP	28.2% (1st)	20.1% (13th)
Home PP	32.5% (1st)	18.7% (13th)
Road PP	22.7% (5th)	21.7% (8th)
Overall PK	79.4% (9th)	75.8% (14th)
Home PK	82.1% (9th)	78.8% (12th)
Road PK	76.3% (12th)	72.6% (17th)
PIM/GAME	15.7	15.6
Attendance	4,453	3,992

LEADING SCORERS
Moncton

Player	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Dmitrij Jaskin	50	45	50	95
Allain Saulnier	65	26	56	82
Phillip Danault	53	23	56	79

Saint John

Player	GP	Goals	Assists	Points
Jakub Izacky	60	20	16	36
Pierre Durepos	40	5	22	27
Stephen Anderson	60	12	14	26

GOALTENDERS
Moncton

Goaltender	Record	GAA	SV%
Alex Dubeau	30-15-1-0	2.74	0.899
Cole Holowenko	9-7-1-1	3.09	0.881

Saint John

Goaltender	Record	GAA	SV%
Sebastien Auger	22-29-1-0	3.29	0.908
Alex Fournier	1-12-0-0	5.33	0.858

LAST GAMES

The Sea Dogs are coming off a 3-2 loss in Cape Breton on Sunday. Maxime Villemaire and Michael Abbott scored for Saint John. Alex Fournier allowed three goals on 34 shots in the loss.

The Wildcats are coming off a 4-0 loss in Charlottetown last night. Cole Holowenko allowed four goals on 26 shots in the loss.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Sea Dogs are 5-2-0-0 against the Wildcats this season while Moncton is 2-4-1-0 against Saint John.

Their last meeting was on February 15 at Harbour Station where the Sea Dogs defeated the Wildcats 4-2. Jakub Izacky, Noah Zilbert, Connor Donaghey, and Maxime Villemaire all scored for Saint John. Alex Saulnier and Yannick Veilleux scored for Moncton. Sebastien Auger made 44 saves in the win. Cole Holowenko allowed three goals on 11 shots before getting pulled. Alex Dubeau allowed one on 13 shots in relief.

RIVALRY CUP

The Brunswick News Rivalry Cup will be decided tonight. Saint John currently leads the standings 17-13, meaning Moncton must win in regulation time and have a crowd over 5,000 tonight to win the trophy. According to the Times & Transcript, a tie would result in Saint John winning because the Dogs won the season series.

NOTES

• Dmitrij Jaskin is fourth in the league in scoring with 95 points.
• Jaskin is third in goals with 45.
• Phillip Danault is seventh in assists with 56.
• Yannick Veilleux is second in power play goals with 18.
• Jonathan Racine is ninth in penalty minutes with 128.
• Ivan Barbashev is second in rookie scoring with 60 points.
• Jaskin is third in shots with 268.
• Alex Saulnier has the most faceoffs win in the league with 983.

OUT OF TOWN

Halifax at Cape Breton - 7:00 PM ADT

Victoriaville at Drummondville - 7:00 PM EDT

Gatineau at Rimouski - 7:00 PM EDT

NEXT GAME

The Sea Dogs travel to Halifax to face the Mooseheads on Friday at 7pm.