PLAYOFF GAME DAY 1: vs Screaming Eagles

Round two begins tonight for the Saint John Sea Dogs and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Game one of the best-of-seven series takes place at 7 p.m. at Harbour Station.

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

Series status: This is the first game of the best-of-seven second round playoff series.

Game 1 – Thursday, April 7 at Saint John – 7 p.m.
Game 2 – Saturday, April 9 at Saint John – 8 p.m.
Game 3 – Monday, April 11 at Cape Breton – 7 p.m.
Game 4 – Tuesday, April 12 at Cape Breton – 7 p.m.

Last games: The Screaming Eagles are coming off a 7-4 game six win over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Monday night at Centre 200. Giovanni Fiore scored twice for the Eagles while singles came from Pierre-Luc Dubois, Maxim Lazarev, Massimo Carozza, Evgeny Svechnikov and Michael Joly. Alexandre Belanger made 28 saves in the victory. The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Friday at Harbour Station. Sam Povorozniouk, Luke Green, Matt Murphy and Thomas Chabot scored for Saint John. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 21 saves in the win.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 6-3-0-0 against the Screaming Eagles in the regular season while Cape Breton went 3-5-0-1 against Saint John.

Last meeting: March 19 at Centre 200 where the Screaming Eagles edged the Sea Dogs 4-3. Phelix Martineau, Declan Smith, Peyton Hoyt and Massimo Carozza scored for Cape Breton. Matt Murphy scored twice for Saint John while Daniel Del Paggio added a solo marker. Daryl MacCallum made 32 saves in the win. Alex Bishop made 40 stops in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Screaming Eagles: Defenseman Olivier LeBlanc

Player to watch: Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was suspended a couple weeks ago for a hit on Luke Green, is Cape Breton’s best player. The draft eligible forward had four goals and three assists in seven games against Saint John during the regular season.

Three Things to Know

1. Two of Cape Breton’s three wins against Saint John this season came during the final weekend of the regular season when the Sea Dogs were depleted by injuries. The Screaming Eagles also won just one game at Harbour Station this year.

2. The Screaming Eagles were one of the best QMJHL teams down the stretch, ending the year with a seven-game winning streak.

3. Home ice advantage could be crucial in this series. Saint John and Cape Breton each won 23 of 34 home games. On the road though, the Dogs were a solid 19-11-4-0 while the Eagles went just 15-17-1-1.

Out of town
Charlottetown at Shawinigan - 7:00 PM EDT

Next game: Game two of this series is on Saturday night at 8 p.m. at Harbour Station.