GAME DAY 52: vs Drakkar

The Saint John Sea Dogs (33-14-4-0, 70 points, 1^st Maritimes, 3^rd QMJHL) return to action tonight to take on the struggling Baie-Comeau Drakkar (8-40-1-2, 19 points, 6^th East, 18^th QMJHL) at 7 p.m. at Harbour Station.

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

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 7-2 win over the Charlottetown Islanders on Wednesday night at Harbour Station. Adam Marsh had a pair of goals while singles came from Joe Veleno, Nathan Noel, Sam Povorozniouk, Samuel Dove-McFalls and Mathieu Joseph. Alex Bishop made 27 saves in the victory. The Drakkar are coming off a 5-2 loss in Charlottetown last night. Jamey Lauzon and Eric Leger scored for Baie-Comeau while Antoine Samuel made 28 saves in the loss.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 0-1-0-0 against the Drakkar this season while Baie-Comeau is 1-0-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Nov. 20 in Baie-Comeau where the Drakkar upset the Sea Dogs 3-2. Nicolas Leblond, Vincent Lavoie and Raphael Santerre scored for Baie-Comeau. Sam Povorozniouk had both Saint John goals. Keven Bouchard made 25 saves in the win while Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 30 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Drakkar: None

Player to watch: Nathan Noel kept his point streak alive on Wednesday, giving him points in 17 straight games. He has 28 points during that span.

Three Things to Know

1. Along with Noel’s point streak, Sam Povorozniouk and Matthew Highmore kept their point streaks alive on Wednesday. The two each have points in 12 straight games.

2. The Drakkar have a winning record (above .500) against only one team in the QMJHL this season: Saint John.

3. Baie-Comeau only has eight wins in 51 games played this season, but three of those victories have come against Maritimes Division teams.

Notes: The Sea Dogs are 16-8-2-0 at home this season… the Drakkar are 2-23-1-1 on the road… Saint John is 8-1-1-0 in their past 10 games… Baie-Comeau has lost seven straight… Samuel Thibault leads the league in minor penalties… Matt Murphy is now fourth in defensemen scoring with seven goals and 41 points in 51 games… the Drakkar lead the league in penalty minutes with an average of 19.20 per game… the Sea Dogs have slid to fourth in penalty minutes with an average of 16.39… Baie-Comeau has scored first just 17 times this season and won only four of those games… the Drakkar have the worst power play in the league with a rating of 15.2%... Baie-Comeau is averaging a league worst 1.97 goals per game and allowing 4.49 goals against… Jakub Zboril has assists in five straight games… Mathieu Joseph has goals in four straight home games… Vincent Deslauriers leads the Drakkar in scoring with 14 goals and 36 points in 50 games.

Out of town:

Cape Breton at Drummondville - 3:00 PM EST
Halifax at Shawinigan - 4:00 PM EST
Val-d'Or at Sherbrooke - 4:00 PM EST
Moncton at Acadie-Bathurst - 7:00 PM AST
Chicoutimi at Charlottetown - 7:00 PM AST

Next game: The Sea Dogs host the Chicoutimi Sagueneens tomorrow at 3 p.m.