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Friday, March 10, 2017

Game Day 64: vs Islanders

One of the biggest games of the season takes place tonight at Harbour Station as the Saint John Sea Dogs (44-13-5-1, 1st Maritimes, 1st QMJHL, 1st CHL) host the Charlottetown Islanders (44-16-3-0, 2nd Maritimes, 4th QMJHL, 6th CHL) tonight at 7 p.m.

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

Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 3-1 home win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Tuesday. Spencer Smallman, Samuel Dove-McFalls and Simon Bourque scored for Saint John. Callum Booth made 24 saves in the victory. The Islanders are coming off a 12-3 beating of the Moncton Wildcats on Wednesday at Eastlink Centre. Daniel Sprong had four goals, Francois Beauchemin three and Alex Dostie two. Singles came from Keith Getson, Guillaume Brisebois and Chris Chaddock. Mark Grametbauer made 27 saves in the victory.

2016-17 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are 5-1-1-0 against the Islanders this season while Charlottetown is 2-5-0-0 against Saint John.

Last meeting: Feb. 14 at Eastlink Centre where the Sea Dogs edged the Islanders 2-1. Thomas Chabot and Nathan Noel had Saint John goals. Tyler MacArthur scored for Charlottetown. Callum Booth made 28 saves in the win. Mark Grametbauer made 22 saves in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Islanders: Forward Adam Marsh.

Random stat: Daniel Sprong has really been living up to the hype of late. The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect is coming off a seven-point game on Wednesday to give him 30 goals and 20 assists in just 26 games. He has been held pointless in two games against Saint John this year, though.

Three Things to Know
1. This is a huge game, standings wise. The two teams are separated by just three points with five games remaining. Unless something drastic happens over the next week, the Maritimes Division winner will also win the QMJHL's regular season crown. The two have one more regular season meeting after this one.

2. This game will feature the QMJHL's best offences going head-to-head. Charlottetown is averaging a league high 4.45 goals per game while Saint John is second with 4.21 goals per game.

3. Both of the teams are smoking hot. Saint John is on a 9-0-2-0 run while Charlottetown has won nine straight.

Notes: Matthew Highmore leads Saint John in scoring with 87 points... Bokondji Imama leads the team in goals with 38... Highmore has a team high 54 assists... Francois Beauchemin has an Islanders high 93 points and 43 goals... Filip Chlapik leads the team in assists with 54... Saint John is 23-6-3-0 at home... Charlottetown is 20-10-1-0 on the road... Carl Neill is second in defencemen scoring with 64 points while Simon Bourque is fifth with 51 points... Saint John has the league's best power play with a rating of 30.8%... Charlottetown has the second best power play with a rating of 26%... Daniel Sprong has goals in six straight games and points in nine straight... Francois Beauchemin has points in eight straight... Spencer Smallman has points in five straight games overall and eight straight at home... Beauchemin has points in 10 straight road games... the Isles have won six straight road games.

Out of town:
Halifax at Acadie-Bathurst - 7:00 PM AST
Moncton at Cape Breton - 7:00 PM AST
Québec at Victoriaville - 7:00 PM EST
Chicoutimi at Blainville-Boisbriand - 7:30 PM EST
Sherbrooke at Drummondville - 7:30 PM EST
Shawinigan at Gatineau - 7:30 PM EST
Baie-Comeau at Rimouski - 7:30 PM EST
Rouyn-Noranda at Val-d'Or - 7:30 PM EST

Next game: The Sea Dogs host the Halifax Mooseheads tomorrow at 7 p.m. It's Saint John's final home game of the regular season.

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