GAME DAY 22: vs Wildcats

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

When and where: Tonight at 8 p.m., Harbour Station

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV/96.1 NewSong FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Wildcats are first in the Maritimes Division and third overall in the QMJHL with a record of 13-6-2-0 for 28 points. The Sea Dogs are second in the Maritimes and eighth overall with a 12-8-1-0 record for 25 points.

Last games: The Wildcats are coming off a 4-1 win over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar on Sunday at the Coliseum. Cameron Askew, Manuel Wiederer, Kevin Klima and William Bower all scored for the ‘Cats while Sebastien Dupre made 30 saves in the victory. The Sea Dogs are coming off a big 7-3 win in Quebec City on Saturday. Spencer Smallman, Adam Bateman, Kyle Ward, Daniel Del Paggio, Mathieu Joseph, Matthew Highmore and Thomas Chabot all scored for Saint John. Nathan Noel chipped in with four assists. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 29 saves in the win.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 0-2-1-0 against the Wildcats this season while Moncton is 3-0-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Oct. 25 at the Moncton Coliseum where the Wildcats defeated the Sea Dogs 4-3 in overtime. Conor Garland had two goals for Moncton while singles came from Jacob Sweeney and Manuel Wiederer. Saint John goals came from Nathan Noel, Sam Povorozniouk and Spencer Smallman. Sebastien Dupre made 33 saves in the win while Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 37 in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Wildcats: Blade Mann-Dixon

Random stat/fact: In 15 games with the MHL’s Valley Jr. A Wildcats this season, former Sea Dogs netminder Blade Mann-Dixon went 8-6 with a 3.79 GAA and .875 SV%.

MON notes: Conor Garland leads the Wildcats in scoring and is fifth in league scoring with 11 goals and 25 assists for 36 points in 16 games… Manuel Wiederer leads the team in goals with 12… Garland’s 25 assists lead the team and places him third in the league… Kevin Klima is fifth in rookie scoring with 20 points while Kelly Klima is sixth with 17 points… Moncton’s average of 16.71 penalty minutes per game is third most in the league… 6-4-2-0 on the road this season… 10-3-0-0 when scoring first… Moncton has the fifth best power play in the league with a rating of 21.6%... averaging 4.25 goals per game, third most in the league… Garland has points in 16 straight games and assists in five straight. He also has points in 10 straight road games… have won two straight and are 6-2-2-0 in their last 10 games.

SJ notes: Matthew Highmore leads the Sea Dogs in scoring with seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 21 games… Adam Marsh leads the team in goals with nine… Highmore has a team high 12 assists… Marc-Antoine Turcotte’s .916 SV% is second best in the league while his 2.82 GAA is fifth best… Saint John is averaging 16.62 penalty minutes per game, fourth most in the league… 5-4-0-0 at home this season… 11-2-0-0 when scoring first… owners of the worst power play in the league with a rating of 15%... 6-3-1-0 in their last 10 games… this is Saint John’s first home game since Halloween… Joe Veleno should be back in the lineup after missing last weekend’s games due to the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

Out of town:

Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst - 7:00 PM AST

Next game: This is the first game of a three-in-three for Saint John. They host the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. and then travel to Halifax to face the Mooseheads on Saturday night.