GAME DAY 61: vs Titan

In what could be a preview of a first round playoff matchup, the Saint John Sea Dogs (40-16-4-0, 84 points, 1^st Maritimes, 3^rd QMJHL) host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan (24-30-3-3, 54 points, 5^th Maritimes, 15^th QMJHL) tonight at 7 p.m.

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

Last games: The Titan are coming off a 4-1 loss in Halifax on Wednesday. Guillaume Brisebois scored Bathurst’s only goal and Reilly Pickard made 31 saves in the loss. The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-1 win over the Drummondville Voltigeurs on Thursday night at Harbour Station. Daniel Del Paggio, Sam Povorozniouk, Luke Green and Joe Veleno all scored for the Dogs and Alex Bishop made 24 stops in the victory.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 5-1-1-0 against the Titan this season while Bathurst is 2-4-0-1 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Tuesday night at Harbour Station where the Sea Dogs edged the Titan 4-3. Thomas Chabot, Spencer Smallman, Matt Murphy and Sam Povorozniouk scored for Saint John while Jeffrey Truchon-Viel, Antoine Morand and Vladimir Kuznetsov had Bathurst goals. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 19 saves in the win while Reilly Pickard made 31 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Titan: Defenseman Jason Bell and forward Dawson Theede

Player to watch: Mathieu Joseph, who has points in nine straight home games, has a Sea Dogs high six goals and six assists in seven games against Bathurst this season.

Three Things to Know

1. The Titan (54 points – 15^th) are in a battle for playoff positioning at the bottom of the standings with Sherbrooke (55 points – 13^th), Drummondville (54 points - 14^th) and Blainville-Boisbriand (54 points – 16^th).

2. Christophe Boivin and Vladimir Kuznetsov each have three goals and five assists against Saint John this season. Meanhwile, Jeffry Truchon-Viel has an impressive six goals in seven games against the Dogs.

3. The Sea Dogs (3^rd overall) and the Shawinigan Cataractes (2^nd overall) each have 84 points. Saint John has two games in hand. The Cataractes host the Quebec Remparts today.

Notes: The Sea Dogs are 21-8-2-0 at home… the Titan are 10-17-2-2 on the road… Bathurst has lost three straight overall and three straight on the road… Saint John has won four straight overall and six straight at home.

Out of town:

Val-d'Or at Baie-Comeau - 4:00 PM EST
Québec at Shawinigan - 4:00 PM EST
Halifax at Cape Breton - 7:00 PM AST
Moncton at Charlottetown - 7:00 PM AST
Rouyn-Noranda at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:00 PM EST
Victoriaville at Gatineau - 7:00 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs travel to Charlottetown tomorrow to face the Islanders at 3 p.m.