The Sea Dogs will raise their 2022 Memorial Cup championship banner to the rafters this evening at TD Station. Tonight's 7 p.m. contest against the Moncton Wildcats is Saint John's first on home ice - regular season or pre-season - since lifting the Memorial Cup in June.
Saint John got their regular season off to a rough start last Sunday in Bathurst, giving up two early goals. But the team settled down nicely from there and, led by veteran players, pulled off a 4-3 comeback win over the Titan.
The Sea Dogs and Wildcats met twice early in the pre-season with Saint John winning both games. Rosters will look much different tonight.
Thanks to Hurricane Fiona, this is Moncton's first game of the season. Most experts predict the 'Cats to finish second or third in the Maritimes Division.
TV/Radio/Stream: None/93 CFBC/CHL TV
2022-23 regular season records: The Sea Dogs are 1-0-0-0 for two points (first Maritimes/second Eastern/sixth QMJHL) while the Wildcats have not played game yet.
2022 pre-season records: The Sea Dogs were 3-5-0-0 this pre-season while the Wildcats went 3-3-2-0.
2021-22 regular season records: The Sea Dogs finished with a record of 47-17-1-3 for 98 points (second Maritimes/third Eastern/third QMJHL) while the Wildcats went 28-31-6-3 for 65 points (fifth Maritimes/seventh Eastern/12th QMJHL). Both teams were eliminated in the opening round of the QMJHL playoffs. Saint John went on to win the Memorial Cup as the host team.
Last games: The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-3 season opening win in Bathurst on Sunday. Brady Burns scored a pair of goals for Saint John while Marshall Lessard and Peter Reynolds added singles Ventsislav Shingarov made 21 saves in the victory. The Wildcats haven't played since defeating the Charlottetown Islanders 7-6 in their pre-season finale on Sept. 17. Vincent Labelle scored twice for Moncton while singles came from Charles Beaudoin, Yoan Loshing, Miles Mueller, Thomas Auger and Alexis Daniel. Vincent Filion allowed three goals on 12 shots in the first half of the game while Jacob Steinman allowed three goals on 16 shots in the second half.
2022 pre-season head-to-head: The Sea Dogs were 2-0-0-0 against the Wildcats in the pre-season while Moncton went 0-2-0-0.
Last meeting: Aug. 19 in pre-season action at Dieppe's UNIplex where the Sea Dogs defeated the Wildcats 5-1. Louis Dumais, Pavel Simek, Eliott Simard, Danny Akkouche and Cael MacDonald scored for Saint John. Ben Mercer had Moncton's lone goal. Olivier Brideau made 22 saves in the win. Keegan Warren and Kiefer Thompson split the loss in goal.
2021-22 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs went 7-2-0-0 against the Wildcats last season while Moncton went 2-7-0-0 against Saint John.
Ex-Sea Dogs on the Wildcats: None.
Wildcat to watch: Defenseman Natan Grenier, who the Sea Dogs traded to the Wildcats in the Philippe Daoust deal, is going to be a player to watch in these head-to-head matchups for the next few years.
Random stat: Brady Burns averaged over a point per game in nine matches against the Wildcats last season, recording three goals and seven assists.
Notes: After one game, Brady Burns and Peter Reynolds lead Saint John in scoring with three points each... Burns has a team high two goals... Reynolds and Charlie DesRoches each have a team high two assists... Thomas Auger and Yoan Loshing led Moncton in pre-season scoring with eight points each... Vincent Labelle had a pre-season high four goals... Auger and Loshing each had a team high five assists... Saint John went 2/4 on the power play in Sunday's game... the Sea Dogs were 23-9-0-2 at TD Station last season.
Out of town:
Baie-Comeau at Chicoutimi - 4:00 PM EDTBlainville-Boisbriand at Rimouski - 4:00 PM EDT
Sherbrooke at Val-d'Or - 4:00 PM EDT
Charlottetown at Acadie-Bathurst - 7:00 PM ADT
Cape Breton at Halifax - 7:00 PM ADT
Québec at Gatineau - 7:00 PM EDT
Shawinigan at Rouyn-Noranda - 7:00 PM EDT
Next game: The Sea Dogs host the Charlottetown Islanders next Friday at TD Station.
No comments:
Post a Comment