GAME DAY 61: vs Olympiques

A preview of tonight’s game between the Gatineau Olympiques and Saint John Sea Dogs…

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

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

Records: The Olympiques are fifth in the West Division and 16^th overall in the QMJHL with a record of 24-30-0-5 for 53 points. The Sea Dogs are second in the Maritimes Division and sixth overall with a 30-21-3-6 record for 69 points.

Last games: The Olympiques are coming off a 7-3 win over the Wildcats in Moncton last night. Valentin Zykov scored twice while singles came from Tommy Veilleux, Marc Beckstead, Yakov Trenin, Alex Dostie and Louick Marcotte. Francois Brassard was pulled after allowing two goals on five shots. Nicolas Lachance made 25 saves in relief. The Sea Dogs are coming off a 7-3 win over the Charlottetown Islanders last night at Harbour Station. Daniel Del Paggio, Mark Tremaine, Mathieu Joseph, Adam Marsh, Spencer Smallman, Justice Dundas and Thomas Chabot scored for the Sea Dogs while Sebastien Auger made 25 saves.

2014-15 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 0-1-0-0 against the Olympiques this season while Gatineau is 1-0-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Jan. 17 in Gatineau where the Olympiques edged the Sea Dogs 4-2. Jake Coughler and Marc Beckstead each scored twice for the ‘Piques while Justice Dundas and Mathieu Joseph each scored for the Dogs. Francois Brassard made 30 saves in the win while Sebastien Auger made 35 in the loss.

Previous meetings this season:

Saint John 2 @ Gatineau 4 (Jan 17 2015) Final

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Olympiques: Joey Richard

Random stat: Former Sea Dogs forward Joey Richard, who had five points in 25 games with Saint John last year, has nine goals and 17 assists in 56 games with the Olympiques this season.

GAT notes: Louick Marcotte leads Gatineau in scoring with 60 points in 54 games this season… Marcotte has scored a team high 30 goals… Yakov Trenin leads the team in assists with 40… Yakov Trenin is fifth in rookie scoring with 55 points… Trenin is third in rookie assists with 40… Alexandre Carrier is second in defensemen scoring with 47 points… Carrier is third in defensemen assists with 38… Gatineau is averaging 12.39 penalty minutes per game, the fewest in the league… 9-18-0-2 on the road this season… 14-8-0-2 when scoring first… 5-4-0-1 against Maritimes Division teams… averaging 28.14 shots per game, the second fewest in the league… Marcotte has assists in five straight games… winners of four straight… on a 5-0-0-1 streak… 5-4-0-1 in their last 10 games.

SJ notes: Nathan Noel leads Saint John in scoring with 55 points in 60 games… Adam Marsh leads Saint John in goals with 24… Noel has a team high 34 assists… Sebastien Auger’s SV% of .909 is second best in the QMJHL… Adam Marsh is ninth in rookie scoring with 43 points… Marsh is fourth in rookie goals with 24… Thomas Chabot is 17^th in defensemen scoring with 35 points… 20-5-2-3 on home ice this season… 19-7-1-1 when scoring first… 6-4-0-1 against West Division teams… the Sea Dogs have the second best penalty kill in the league with a rating of 83.1%... Saint John is averaging 31.42 shots per game, the second most in the league… Spencer Smallman has goals in four straight games… Nathan Noel has points in five straight games… 4-4-2-0 in their last 10 games.

Out of town:

Cape Breton at Chicoutimi - 4:00 PM EST
Blainville-Boisbriand at Sherbrooke - 4:00 PM EST
Drummondville at Val-d'Or - 4:00 PM EST
Charlottetown at Moncton - 7:00 PM AST
Shawinigan at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:00 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs travel to Bathurst next Friday to battle the Titan at 7:30 p.m.