GAME DAY 13: at Gatineau

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

When and where: Today at 5 p.m., Robert Guertin Centre

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV (not SJ)/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Sea Dogs are third in the Maritimes Division and 10^th overall in the QMJHL with a 7-5-0-0 record for 14 points. The Olympiques are fourth in the West Division and eighth overall with a record of 7-4-0-1 for 15 points.

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-3 win in Blainville-Boisbriand yesterday. Sam Povorozniouk had a pair of goals while singles came from Adam Marsh, Spencer Smallman and Mathieu Joseph. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 21 saves in the win. The Olympiques are coming off a 3-0 loss in Rimouski on Friday. Mathieu Bellemare allowed two goals on 18 shots in the loss. Gatineau registered 40 shots in the loss.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 1-0-0-0 against the Olympiques this season while Gatineau is 0-0-0-1.

Last meeting: Oct. 2 at Harbour Station where the Sea Dogs defeated the Olympiques 4-3 in a shootout. Daniel Del Paggio, Luke Green and Bokondji Imama had Saint John goals while Yan Pavel Laplante scored twice for Gatineau and Vitalii Abramov added a solo marker. Saint John scored on all three of their shootout attempts. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 37 saves in the win while Mathieu Bellemare made 22 in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Olympiques: Joey Richard

Random stat/fact: The Sea Dogs are averaging 3.06 goals against per game – the fourth fewest in the league – while allowing the fourth most shots against per game (33.10).

SJ notes: Sam Povorozniouk leads Saint John in scoring with six goals and six assists for 12 points. His six goals are also a team high… Matthew Highmore leads the team in assists with seven… Povorozniouk and Joe Veleno each have six assists… Marc-Antoine Turcotte continues to lead the league in SV% with a .924 rating. His GAA of 2.53 is third best in the league… 4-3-0-0 on the road this season… this is the final game of a three-in-three Quebec road trip for Saint John… 6-2-0-0 when scoring first… 2-1-0-0 against West Division teams… Saint John owns the worst power play in the league with a rating of 9.3%... their penalty kill rating of 84.4% is fourth best in the league… Jakub Zboril and Nathan Noel are eligible to return from their two-game suspensions today… Luke Green will serve the final game of his three-game suspension.

GAT notes: Vitalii Abramov leads the Olympiques in scoring with seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points. He leads all QMJHL rookies in points and assists and is second in goals… Yan Pavel Laplante leads the team in goals with 10 in 12 games. That places him fourth in league goal scoring… Laplante leads the league in shorthanded goals with three… Mathieu Bellemare has a league best GAA of 2.09. His SV% of .908 is fourth best… Alexandre Carrier is sixth in defensemen scoring with two goals and nine assists for 11 points… 4-2-0-0 at home this season… 5-1-0-0 when scoring first… 1-1-0-1 against Maritimes Division teams… Gatineau’s power play rating of 13.8% is second worst in the league… their penalty kill rating of 87.1% is third best… averaging 2.55 goals against per game, the second fewest in the league… Abramov and Laplante each have points in six straight home games… Gatineau has lost two straight.

Out of town:

Acadie-Bathurst at Cape Breton - 3:00 PM ADT
Halifax at Moncton - 3:00 PM ADT
Val-d'Or at Blainville-Boisbriand - 3:00 PM EDT
Chicoutimi at Rimouski - 3:00 PM EDT
Shawinigan at Sherbrooke - 3:00 PM EDT
Québec at Rouyn-Noranda - 4:00 PM EDT

Next game: The Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Thursday night at Harbour Station. Note that this is an 8 p.m. start in order to accommodate Rogers TV.