GAME DAY 34: vs Screaming Eagles

A preview of tonight’s game between the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 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 Screaming Eagles are third in the Maritimes Division and ninth overall in the QMJHL standings with an 18-14-3-0 record for 39 points. The Sea Dogs are second in the Maritimes and eighth overall with a 19-12-2-0 record for 40 points.

Last games: The Screaming Eagles and Sea Dogs met last Saturday at Centre 200 with Saint John posting a 4-3 victory. Mathieu Joseph, Sam Povorozniouk, Adam Marsh and Joe Veleno scored for the Dogs while a pair of Eagles goals came from Phelix Martineau and a single from Michael Joly. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 18 saves in the win while Alexandre Belanger made 34 in the loss.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 3-0-0-0 against the Screaming Eagles while Cape Breton is 0-3-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: See above.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Screaming Eagles: Olivier LeBlanc

Random stat/fact: Saint John and Gatineau have played the fewest home games in the league this season (15). The Sea Dogs close out the first half with two home games.

CAP notes: Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was cut by Team Canada earlier this week, leads the Screaming Eagles in points with 47… Dubois and Michael Joly each have a team high 20 goals… Dubois has a team high 27 assists… Maxim Lazarev and Evgeny Svechnikov are away at world junior camps… Clark Bishop is out with a lower body injury… Alexandre Belanger has the fifth most wins in the league with 15. He also leads the league in minutes played and is second in saves… the Eagles are averaging 17.06 penalty minutes per game, the third most in the league… 7-10-0-0 on the road this season… 10-2-2-0 when scoring first… 10-9-1-0 against Maritimes Division teams… their 75.3% penalty kill is fourth worst in the league… have given up a league high 11 shorthanded goals… Joly has goals in five straight games overall and four straight road games… Cape Breton has won three straight road games.

SJ notes: Mathieu Joseph leads Saint John in scoring with 30 points… Joseph and Sam Povorozniouk lead the team in goals with 20… Matt Murphy has a team high 21 assists… Joseph has scored the third most shorthanded goals in the league with four… Marc-Antoine Turcotte has the sixth best GAA (2.81) and third best SV% (.911)… Joe Veleno is 11^th in rookie scoring with 21 points… Murphy is ninth in defensemen scoring with 25 points… Saint John is averaging 17.27 penalty minutes per games, the second most in the league… 8-6-1-0 on the road this season… 16-4-0-0 when scoring first… 10-7-1-0 against Maritimes Division teams… their 16.5% power play is second worst in the league… the Dogs have the second best penalty kill in the league with a rating of 82.2%... Saint John has scored the second most shorthanded goals with 10… defensemen Thomas Chabot and Jakub Zboril are away at world junior camps.

Out of town:

Moncton at Halifax - 7:00 PM AST
Cape Breton at Saint John - 7:00 PM AST
Victoriaville at Québec - 7:00 PM EST
Sherbrooke at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:30 PM EST
Rouyn-Noranda at Val-d'Or - 7:30 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs host the Halifax Mooseheads tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.