Wednesday, October 16, 2013

GAMEDAY 12 - vs Wildcats

GAMEDAY
Moncton Wildcats vs Saint John Sea Dogs
Tonight at 7pm
Radio: News 88.9 | Webcast: Telus | TV: None | Live: @station_nation
Harbour Station – Saint John, NB
PREVIEW
SAINT JOHN – Scoring goals was a problem for the Saint John Sea Dogs this past weekend.

The Sea Dogs were shutout on Saturday night in Halifax and then on Sunday afternoon were able to score just once despite registering 39 shots on Charlottetown Islanders goaltender Eric Brassard. Saint John’s goals per game average fell to 2.60, the third lowest total in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

But this past weekend is the past. The Sea Dogs will look to get their offense back on track this evening at 7pm at Harbour Station when they host the Moncton Wildcats in the second game of the 2013-14 Brunswick News Rivalry Cup.

The two provincial rivals have met just once so far this season and that was way back on opening night in Moncton (September 13th). The Sea Dogs won that game 5-3 thanks to a solid showing from rookie Antoine Landry in net and goals from Noah Zilbert, Michael Abbott, Nathan Noel, Kelly Bent, and Stephen Anderson.

Saint John is now 5-5-0-1 and sit fourth in the Maritimes Division and 13th overall in the league. Despite not scoring a ton of goals so far this year, the Sea Dogs have a goal differential of just -4. The Dogs have also been pretty good on home ice and have a record of 3-1-0-1 at the Station. They play at home tonight, Saturday, and Sunday.

The Wildcats meanwhile enter action tonight with a 5-8-0-0 record and sit fifth in the Maritimes Division and 15th overall. Moncton’s schedule is a bit bizarre as they are in Saint John tonight after playing two games in Quebec this past weekend – a 5-4 shootout win in Rimouski on Saturday and a 4-2 loss in Quebec City on Sunday.

Moncton is led by NHL draft eligible Russian forward Ivan Barbashev who has seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points in 13 games. Christopher Caissy, playing in his first full QMJHL season, is second on the team in points with 16.

The Wildcats goaltending has been pretty much what was expected. Alex Dubeau is 5-7-0-0 with a 3.17 goals against average and a 0.887 save percentage.

THE NUMBERS
MonctonSaint John
Record5-8-0-0 (5th Maritimes)5-5-0-1 (4th Maritimes)
Home Record2-4-0-03-1-0-1
Road Record3-4-0-02-4-0-0
Goals For/Game2.98 (10th)2.60 (16th)
Goals Against/Game3.67 (14th)2.96 (5th)
Shots For/Game29.12 (11th)30.09 (8th)
Shots Against/Game27.97 (6th)36.45 (17th)
Overall PP18.0% (13th)21.2% (10th)
Home PP19.4% (11th)29.0% (5th)
Road PP16.7% (10th)14.3% (15th)
Overall PK83.3% (3rd)82.0% (7th)
Home PK77.3% (12th)90.0% (2nd)
Road PK87.5% (1st)76.7% (9th)
PIM/GAME13.717.2
Attendance4,1282,891

LEADING SCORERS
Moncton
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
Ivan Barbashev1371118
Christopher Caissy1351116
Conor Garland136915

Saint John
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
Michael Abbott94610
Stephen Anderson11448
Olivier LeBlanc11358

GOALTENDERS
Moncton
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Alex Dubeau5-7-0-03.170.887
Graham Hunt0-1-0-05.210.812

Saint John
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Sebastien Auger3-4-0-12.360.936
Antoine Landry2-1-0-03.570.895

LAST GAMES
The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Charlottetown Islanders on Sunday afternoon at Harbour Station. Olivier LeBlanc scored Saint John’s only goal while Sebastien Auger made 35 saves in the loss.

The Wildcats are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Remparts in Quebec City on Sunday. Christopher Caissy and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Moncton. Alex Dubeau made 32 saves in the loss.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Sea Dogs are 1-0-0-0 against the Wildcats this season while Moncton is 0-1-0-0 against Saint John.

Their only previous meeting this season was on September 13th in Moncton where the Sea Dogs defeated the Wildcats 5-3 on opening night. Noah Zilbert, Michael Abbott, Nathan Noel, Kelly Bent, and Stephen Anderson scored the Dogs while the ‘Cats had goals from Conor Garland, Ivan Barbashev, and Christophe Lalonde. Antoine Landry made 33 saves in the win and Alex Dubeau made 20 in the loss.

NOTES
  • The Sea Dogs lead the all-important Rivalry Cup standings 1-0.
  • The Wildcats acquired overager JC Campagna last week.
  • Moncton is 4-0-0-0 when scoring first.
  • Wildcats are 4-3-0-0 against the Maritimes Division.
  • Noah Zilbert has five goals in eight career games against Moncton.

OUT OF TOWN
Chicoutimi at Rimouski - 7:00 PM EDT

NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs host the Quebec Remparts on Saturday night at 7pm at Harbour Station on ‘Pink in the Rink Night.’

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