GAME DAY 49: at Moncton

The Saint John Sea Dogs (31-13-4-0, 66 points, 2^nd Maritimes, 6^th QMJHL) play their biggest regular season game in years tonight in Moncton against the Wildcats (30-14-6-1, 67 points, 1^st Maritimes, 3^rd QMJHL) with first place in the Maritimes Division on the line. Game time is 7 p.m.

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

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 5-3 victory in Bathurst on Saturday. Matthew Highmore, Sam Povorozniouk, Joe Veleno, Mathieu Joseph and Matt Green scored for Saint John while Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 29 saves in the win. The Wildcats are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Titan on home ice on Sunday. Blade Mann-Dixon made 30 saves in the loss.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 1-4-1-0 against the Wildcats this season while Moncton is 5-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Dec. 9 in Moncton where the Sea Dogs defeated the Wildcats 6-2. Mathieu Joseph and Luke Green each scored twice while singles came from Matthew Highmore and Bokondji Imama. Liam Murphy and Adam Holwell scored for Moncton. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 29 saves in the win. Blade Mann-Dixon allowed three goals on 16 shots before getting pulled. Sebastien Dupre made seven saves in relief.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Wildcats: Forward Joey Richard and goaltender Blade Mann-Dixon.

Player to Watch: By Conor Garland standards, Conor Garland has been quiet of late and is coming off a pointless game against Bathurst on Sunday. He has five goals and five assists in five games against the Sea Dogs this season.

Three Things to Know

1. Conor Garland’s numbers are just crazy. The forward leads the league in scoring by a long shot with 31 goals, 73 assists and 104 points in just 46 games. By comparison, Saint John’s leading scorers, Matthew Highmore and Mathieu Joseph, have 52 points each.

2. Former Sea Dogs goaltender Blade Mann-Dixon is 1-1-0-0 with a 3.60 GAA and .875 SV% in two games against his old club this season.

3. These are two teams heading in opposite directions. The Sea Dogs have picked up points in 14 straight games (12-0-2) while the Wildcats have lost five straight (0-4-1-0).

Notes: Mathieu Joseph has four goals and an assist in five games against Moncton this season… the Sea Dogs are 16-6-2-0 on the road this season… the Wildcats are 14-7-3-1 at home this season… Joseph and Matthew Highmore lead the Sea Dogs in scoring with 52 points each… Joseph and Sam Povorozniouk each have a team high 25 goals… Highmore’s 34 assists lead the team… Marc-Antoine Turcotte is now tied for second in the league in wins with 23… Kevin Klima is third in rookie scoring with 21 goals and 48 points… Saint John’s power play has improved to 12^th in the league with a rating of 20.9%... Joseph has goals in four straight games… Nathan Noel has points in 14 straight games… Highmore and Povorozniouk have points in nine straight.

Out of town:

Shawinigan at Charlottetown - 7:00 PM AST
Drummondville at Québec - 7:00 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Friday at 7:30 p.m.