PREVIEW: Mooseheads VS Saint John Saturday 7pm
2024-03-02
Mooseheads-X (38-15-7-1) VS Sea Dogs (17-33-5-3), 7pm AST, Scotiabank Centre
Halifax, 2nd in Eastern Conference | Saint John 9th in Eastern Conference |
Mooseheads Stats | Sea Dogs Stats |
Webcast: CHL TV | Radio: CityNews 95.7 |
A five-game winning streak came to an end on Thursday night for the Mooseheads with a 2-0 loss at home to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The Herd are hoping to bounce back with a better offensive effort tonight when they entertain the Saint John Sea Dogs at Scotiabank Centre at 7pm. Mathis Rousseau stopped 32-of-33 shots in that loss and was in the crease for a second consecutive night following his victory over Cape Breton on Wednesday. The Moose are down to their final seven games of the regular season and will face these Sea Dogs on back-to-back nights to wrap up the schedule March 22nd and 23rd in the Port City. Halifax has a 3-1-1-0 edge in the season series although they have been difficult games with four out of the five contests being decided by just one goal.
If the Playoffs began today: Halifax is currently matched up against Acadie-Bathurst in a battle of the second seed versus the seventh seed. The Mooseheads are well back of first place Baie-Comeau in the conference and 13 ahead of third place Moncton.
Moose Injuries: Jordan Dumais (out indefinitely – lower body) He has returned to Halifax to continue rehab with no set date to rejoin the lineup. Braeden MacPhee (day-to-day – upper body) – Questionable to return tonight.
Meet the Opponent – Saint John Sea Dogs
Head Coach – Travis Crickard (Second season with Saint John)
Team Stats: Goals per Game – 2.74 (16th in QMJHL) | Goals Against per Game – 4.22 (17th in QMJHL) | PP – 18.5% (13th in QMJHL) | PK – 74.3% (15th in QMJHL)
Leaders: Goals – Eriks Mateiko (22) | Assists – Nate Tivey (21) | Points – Eriks Mateiko (42)
Saint John is in full blown rebuild mode this season and have been steadily collecting draft picks for the future through various trades over the last calendar year. They currently own Gatineau and Blainville’s first round picks in June’s draft as well as Cape Breton and Moncton’s first rounders in 2025. The Dogs are mired at the bottom of the standings in a virtual tie with the Quebec Remparts with 42 points. One of those two teams will make the playoffs while the other will finish out of a playoff spot in 17th place. Only Val d’Or has a worse record. Saint John is coming off a 5-2 home loss last night to the top ranked Baie-Comeau Drakkar.
If the Playoffs began today: The Sea Dogs would sneak into the postseason on a tie-breaker over Quebec and would cross over to the Western Conference to face the high-powered Drummondville Voltigeurs in Round #1.
Nova Scotians: The Sea Dogs have three Nova Scotians on the roster: Forwards Tyler Peddle (Antigonish), Darien Reynolds (Sydney) and Coen Miller (Bedford)
3 STATS TO KNOW
1 – Since a trade between the teams, Peter Reynolds has scored 17 points in 20 games for Halifax while Brody Fournier has 14 in 25 games for SNB.
2 – Brady Schultz was named the QMJHL Defenceman of the Month for February on Friday after scoring 17 points in 13 games.
3 – Halifax will surpass the 250,000 mark for season attendance tonight and will increase their average of 8,187 fans per game.
TICKETS: on sale now at Ticketmaster.ca