GAMEDAY #66: vs. Saint John

GAMEDAY
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS SAINT JOHN SEA DOGS
Puck drops at 7pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

We're down to the final stretch of the regular season. Wow where has the time gone? The last playoff spot was clinched over the weekend when the Saint John Sea Dogs lost on home ice, meaning that they officially will not be in the post-season but the Val-d'Or Foreurs will. Your Halifax Mooseheads will play some mid-week hockey and host those Sea Dogs tonight at 7pm at the Scotiabank Centre. After finishing a top the Maritimes division the past two seasons, Saint John finds themselves at the bottom this year and fighting with Shawinigan for the first overall pick in the 2018 Q draft. The Dogs finished with 8 home wins during 2017-18, their lowest in team history and with 14 wins total this year the club is definitely in a rebuild. However since they don't have the pressure of trying to make the post-season anymore, they will look to play spoiler in their final three games against teams who are looking to secure their final positions in the standings. Halifax will have to play a strong defensive game this evening and not take the visiting club lately as the Mooseheads are still in a position to win the division this year. The Herd will look to head into the playoffs on a winning note and tighten up some mistakes that they have had in the previous couple of home games. Come out and cheer on the boys Moose Country as they finish up the regular season with a three game homestand beginning tonight versus Saint John.

This is the eigth and final meeting between these two teams. Halifax is 5-2-0-0 against the Sea Dogs while Saint John has a 2-4-1-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was on February 9 where Saint John picked up one of it's 8 home wins with the help of 3 point nights from Ostap Safin and Robbie Burt while Blade Mann-Dixon made 36 saves to take the loss for Halifax.

OVERALL RECORDS
Sea Dogs: 14-40-9-2 = 39 points (6th in Maritimes division, 17th overall)
Mooseheads: 41-17-6-1 = 89 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 4th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Otto Somppi 80pts (28G & 52A), Filip Zadina 77pts (42G & 35A), Maxime Fortier 71pts (31G & 40A)
SNB: Ostap Safin 56pts (26G & 30A), Radim Salda 40pts (10G & 30A), Anthony Boucher 37pts (16G & 21A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Saint John is coming off a 6-4 loss on home ice against Moncton on Saturday evening. Cedric Pare had a goal and 2 assists to lead the Sea Dogs and Alex D'Orio stopped 28 of the Wildcats' 34 shots in the defeat.

Halifax is coming off a 3-2 defeat in Acadie-Bathurst on Saturday which was moved to early evening because of the national broadcast. Filip Zadina scored both goals for the Mooseheads while the Titan outshot the away team causing Alexis Gravel to make 40 saves in the loss.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
September 21  Halifax 4 at Saint John 1
November 17  Saint John 7 at Halifax 2
November 25  Halifax 7 at Saint John 1
January 6  Halifax 5 at Saint John 4 OT
January 27  Saint John 2 at Halifax 5
January 28  Saint John 2 at Halifax 8
February 9  Halifax 3 at Saint John 6
March 14  Saint John at Halifax - 7pm

OUT OF TOWN
Wildcats vs. Screaming Eagles     7:00pm
Armada vs. Oceanic     8:00pm
Voltigeurs vs. Foreurs     8:00pm
Remparts vs. Sagueneens     8:00pm
Tigres vs. Olympiques     8:00pm
Drakkar vs. Huskies     8:30pm


AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will thank fans this weekend starting with a game on Friday evening against rivals Moncton Wildcats. Puck drops at 7pm.