GAMEDAY 2: at Moncton

A preview of today’s game between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Moncton Wildcats…

When and where: Today at 4:00 p.m., Moncton Coliseum

TV/Webcast/Radio: None/QMJHL Live/96.1 NewSong FM

Records: The Sea Dogs are 0-0-0-1 and sit fifth in the Maritimes Division and 13^th overall in the league standings with one point. The Wildcats are 0-1-0-0 and sit last in the Maritimes and 15^th overall with no points.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss in Charlottetown on Friday. Adam Bateman and Julien Tessier scored in regulation time while Sebastien Auger made 14 saves in the loss. The Wildcats are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Friday. Will Smith, Eric Leger, and Adam Holwell scored for Moncton while Alex Dubeau made 27 saves.

2013-14 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs went 3-6-0-0 against the Wildcats last season while Moncton went 6-3-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: March 5 at Harbour Station when the Wildcats edged the Sea Dogs 5-4. Matthew Highmore had two goals in that game. Sebastien Auger made 30 saves.

Randon stat: The Wildcats have five Americans on their season-opening roster.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Wildcats: None

SJ notes: this is the first game of the Rivalry Cup. The format is apparently the same as last year’s… Mark Tremaine played two seasons in Moncton… wouldn’t be shocking to see Nikita Li play today in place of Jurij Siska… Jakub Zboril had five shots on Friday… none of Saint John’s leading scorers against Moncton last season – Oliver Cooper, Matthew Highmore, Jurij Repe, and Noah Zilbert – will play... the Dogs are still without Highmore, Mitchell Dempsey, and Olivier LeBlanc due to NHL rookie camps.

MON notes: the Wildcats’ season opener was a disaster. They’ll look to step things up in a big way today… imports Ivan Barbashev and Vladimir Tkachev are away at NHL rookie camps… Moncton allowed two shorthanded goals on Friday… ice at the Moncton Coliseum will probably suck... Christophe Lalonde had seven goals and five assists in nine games against Saint John last season.

Out of town:

Victoriaville at Sherbrooke - 3:00 PM EDT
Québec at Rimouski - 4:00 PM EDT

Next game: The Sea Dogs take on the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in their home opener on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Harbour Station.