Tuesday, October 1, 2013

GAMEDAY 7 - vs Mooseheads

GAMEDAY
Halifax Mooseheads 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 – On the opening day of the 2013-14 National Hockey League season, one of the NHL’s top prospects makes his return to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Jonathan Drouin, the third overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, was sent back to junior by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. The 18-year old forward is expected to make his season debut with the Halifax Mooseheads tonight at 7pm when they take on the Saint John Sea Dogs at Harbour Station. Plenty of tickets are still available.

Drouin had 41 goals and 105 points in just 49 games with the Moose last season. He added 35 points in 17 playoff games and helped Halifax win their first President Cup and Memorial Cup. Obviously, he is a huge, huge boost to a Mooseheads team that has lost quite a few of their top players from last season’s championship squad due to graduation.

Halifax is off to an average start and currently sit 14th overall in the QMJHL standings with 3-4-0-0 record. They have been outscored 22-17 in seven games this year.

The Mooseheads are led by returning forwards Andrew Ryan (4G, 3A) and Brent Andrews (1G, 6A) who each have seven points. Rookie import Nikolaj Ehlers has six points.

Halifax also has one of the league’s best goalies returning for another season. Montreal Canadiens prospect Zach Fucale has a 2.56 goals against average and 0.902 save percentage in five games this season.

Meanwhile, the Sea Dogs enter action tonight with a 3-2-0-1 record and sit 10th overall. They have outscored opponents 16-15 in six games this year.

Stephen Anderson (3G, 3A) and Oliver Cooper (1G, 5A) lead the Sea Dogs in scoring with six points in six games. Anderson and rookie Nathan Noel each have a team high three goals.

THE NUMBERS
HalifaxSaint John
Record3-4-0-0 (5th Maritimes)3-2-0-1 (3rd Maritimes)
Home Record2-2-0-02-0-0-1
Road Record1-2-0-01-2-0-0
Goals For/Game2.40 (17th)2.63 (16th)
Goals Against/Game3.11 (9th)2.47 (2nd)
Shots For/Game30.21 (8th)29.10 (11th)
Shots Against/Game29.65 (9th)37.97 (18th)
Overall PP9.4% (18th)18.9% (12th)
Home PP9.1% (18th)26.3% (9th)
Road PP10.0% (16th)11.1% (14th)
Overall PK78.1% (11th)80.8% (8th)
Home PK88.2% (6th)92.3% (3rd)
Road PK66.7% (16th)69.2% (14th)
PIM/GAME19.319.8
Attendance7,5183,073

LEADING SCORERS
Halifax
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
Andrew Ryan7437
Brent Andrews5167
Nikolaj Ehlers7426

Saint John
PlayerGPGoalsAssistsPoints
Stephen Anderson6336
Oliver Cooper6156
Michael Abbott5145

GOALTENDERS
Halifax
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Zach Fucale3-2-0-02.560.902
Kevin Darveau0-2-0-04.500.885

Saint John
GoaltenderRecordGAASV%
Sebastien Auger2-1-0-11.720.957
Antoine Landry1-1-0-03.500.896

LAST GAMES
The Sea Dogs are coming off a 4-1 win over the Sherbrooke Phoenix on Saturday night at Harbour Station. Olivier LeBlanc, Mackenzie Brown, Matthew Highmore, and Nathan Noel all scored for Saint John. LeBlanc also had two assists. Sebastien Auger made 32 saves in the win.

The Mooseheads are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Sherbrooke Phoenix on Sunday afternoon at the Metro Centre. Nikolaj Ehlers scored less than two minutes into the game and that would be Halifax’s only goal. Zach Fucale made 18 saves in the loss.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
This is the first meeting of the season between the Sea Dogs and Mooseheads.

Saint John went 1-7-0-0 against Halifax last season while the Mooseheads went 7-0-1-0 against the Sea Dogs.

NOTES
  • Jonathan Drouin had four goals and 10 assists in six regular season games against Saint John last season and two goals and eight assists in four playoff games.
  • Nathan Noel’s two power play goals is second most amongst rookies.
  • The Sea Dogs are averaging the second fewest goals against per game (2.47) while also averaging the most shots against per game (37.97). Sebastien Auger says hi.
  • First mid-week game of the season for Saint John.

OUT OF TOWN
Victoriaville at Chicoutimi - 7:00 PM EDT
Drummondville at Québec - 7:00 PM EDT

NEXT GAME
The Sea Dogs are on the road in Cape Breton on Friday night.

No comments:

Post a Comment