Game Day 33: vs Islanders

The Saint John Sea Dogs (21-7-3-1, 1st Maritimes, 1st QMJHL) play their last game of the first half tonight at 7 p.m. at Harbour Station against the Charlottetown Islanders (20-11-1-0, 2nd Maritimes, 5th QMJHL)

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

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-1 win over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada on Sunday at Harbour Station. Bokondji Imama had a hat trick for Saint John while Matthew Highmore added a single. Alex D'Orio made 12 saves in the win. The Islanders are coming off a 6-3 win over the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Wednesday at Eastlink Centre. Pascal Aquin had a hat trick for Charlottetown while singles came from Matthew Grouchy, Jake Coughler and Sam King. Blade Mann-Dixon made 35 saves in the win.

2016-17 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 2-1-1-0 against the Islanders this season while Charlottetown is 2-2-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Nov. 11 at Eastlink Centre where the Sea Dogs defeated the Islanders 7-3. Jakub Zboril had two goals for Saint John while singles came from Mathieu Joseph, Nathan Noel, Bokondji Imama, Matthew Highmore and Spencer Smallman. Saku Vesterinen, Keith Getson and Filip Chlapik had Charlottetown goals. Alex Bishop allowed three goals on 11 shots before getting pulled; Alex D'Orio made six saves in the third period. Blade Mann-Dixon allowed three goals on 15 shots before getting pulled; Matthew Welsh made 23 saves in relief.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Islanders: Defenceman Will Thompson and goaltender Blade Mann-Dixon.

Random stat: Pierre-Olivier Joseph, the bother of Saint John's Mathieu Joseph, has four goals and 23 assists in 31 games this season. He received an invite to the CHL Top Prospects Game this week.

Three Things to Know
1. The Sea Dogs will be without Thomas Chabot (Canada), Mathieu Joseph (Canada) and Jakub Zboril (Czech Republic) due to world junior training camps.

2. The Isles are an impressive 8-2 in their last 10 games while Saint John is 7-1-1-1.

3. Saint John is 11-2-2-0 on home ice this season. The team's 11 home wins is tied for the league lead.

Notes: Matthew Highmore now leads Saint John in scoring with 17 goals and 46 points in 32 games... Mathieu Joseph leads the team in goals with 25... Highmore's 29 assists leads the team... Filip Chlapik, who is away at Czech Republic world junior camp, leads the Islanders in scoring with 20 goals and 44 points in 26 games... Chlapik and Jake Coughler lead the Isles in goals with 20 each... Chlapik and Cody Conaghey each have a team high 24 assists... Pierre-Olivier Joseph is eighth in defencemen scoring with 27 points... the Islanders are 9-8-0-0 on the road... Saint John has the best power play (29.7%) and penalty kill (85.2%) in the league... Charlottetown's power play (26%) is fourth best in the QMJHL while their penalty kill is (72.1%) is last... the Islanders are averaging a league high 4.17 goals per game. Saint John is averaging 4.02 goals per game, the second most... Highmore has points in eight straight games and goals in five straight.

Out of town:
Rouyn-Noranda at Drummondville - 3:00 PM EST
Val-d'Or at Blainville-Boisbriand - 4:00 PM EST
Baie-Comeau at Chicoutimi - 4:00 PM EST
Sherbrooke at Gatineau - 4:00 PM EST
Victoriaville at Rimouski - 4:00 PM EST
Cape Breton at Acadie-Bathurst - 7:00 PM AST
Moncton at Halifax - 7:00 PM AST
Shawinigan at Québec - 7:00 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs return to action on Dec. 28 when they travel to Bathurst to take on the Titan.