GAME DAY 26: vs Armada

A preview of tonight’s game between the St. John’s Fog Devils Montreal Junior Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and the Saint John Sea Dogs…

When and where: Tonight at Harbour Station, 7:30 p.m.

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

Records: The Sea Dogs are first in the Maritimes Division, second overall in the QMJHL and ranked sixth in the CHL Top 10 with a record of 15-6-1-3 for 34 points. The Armada are 15-7-1-2 for 33 points and sit first in the West Division and third overall.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-5 loss in Charlottetown last night. Thomas Chabot, Samuel Dove-McFalls, Nathan Noel, Matthew Highmore and Mathieu Joseph scored while Sebastien Auger made 32 saves in the loss. The Armada are coming off a 4-1 win in Bathurst last night. Nikita Jevpalovs had a hat trick, Emil Aronsson netted a solo marker and Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 17 saves in the win.

2014-15 head-to-head: This is the first meeting of the season between the two.

Last meeting: Feb. 9 at Harbour Station where the Armada defeated the Sea Dogs 5-2. Samuel Hodhod and Nikita Jevpalovs each scored twice while Nathanael Halbert added one. Thomas Chabot and Oliver Cooper scored for Saint John. Etienne Marcoux made 16 saves in the win while Sebastien Auger made 35 in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Armada: None

Random stat: The Armada’s 79 goals scored this season is the third lowest total in the league.

BLB notes: Danick Martel leads the Armada in scoring with 36 points in 25 games… Nikita Jevpalovs leads the team in goals with 21… Martel has a team high 21 assists… 5-3-1-2 on the road this season…. 8-1-1-0 in their last 10 games… Jevpalovs' 21 goals are the third most in the league… Samuel Montembeault has the league’s second best GAA of 2.55… 11-2-1-0 when scoring first… 5-0-0-0 against Maritimes Division teams… averaging 2.45 goals against per game, the lowest total in the league… allowing 24.85 shots against per game, the fewest in the league… Martel has points in nine straight road games.

SJ notes: Adam Marsh leads the Sea Dogs in scoring with 23 points… Marsh’s 12 goals are a team high… Thomas Chabot, Spencer Smallman and Olivier LeBlanc all have a team high 13 assists… 9-0-1-2 on home ice this season… have lost two straight games… Marsh is seventh in rookie scoring… Chabot is 10^th in defensemen scoring with 19 points. He is second in goals with six… this will be Saint John’s first game of the season against a West Division opponent… Saint John still has the league’s second worst power play with a rating of 15.6%... averaging 3.06 goals against per game, the second fewest in the league… Matthew Highmore has goals in three straight games.

Out of town:

Sherbrooke at Charlottetown - 7:00 PM AST
Cape Breton at Moncton - 7:00 PM AST
Québec at Gatineau - 7:00 PM EST
Chicoutimi at Rimouski - 7:30 PM EST
Baie-Comeau at Shawinigan - 7:30 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Harbour Station.