Wildcats, Titan set to face off in rare Tuesday matchup

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It’s hard to believe, but the QMJHL schedule is skating past the two-third’s mark of the season with teams focused on games of increasing importance in terms of playoff positioning and the overall standings.

One of those takes place Tuesday when the Acadie-Bathurst Titan entertain the Moncton Wildcats at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre.

Game time is 7 p.m. It is a make up game after their original Jan. 10 contest was postponed because of a winter storm.

The Wildcats will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak where they have fallen from first place in the Maritimes Division, a spot they held briefly after the Christmas break, and regain some momentum heading toward the stretch run.

Acadie-Bathurst, now solidly in the playoff hunt, has captured three of its past four contests, with the only setback in that span a 5-3 loss to Charlottetown on Sunday afternoon.

The Wildcats are still well positioned at 26-12-3-3 for third place in the Eastern Conference for 58 points, eight points back of Halifax, although the Wildcats have four games in hand on their rivals. After results on the weekend however, Moncton remains just four points ahead of the surging Cape Breton Eagles although the Wildcats hold three games in hand over the Nova Scotia based crew.

Cape Breton is 7-2-0-1 in the past 10 games.

The Titan, who have also played well since the Christmas break at 7-4-0-1 in that span, have moved into sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 21-21-2-2 record for 46 points, seven points back of fifth place Rimouski and one point ahead of Chicoutimi.

The Wildcats have been in all four of their most recent losses but are averaging four goals a game against in that span, which includes road defeats against Victoriaville (4-3), Rimouski (5-3), Cape Breton (4-3) and a home-ice loss to Sherbrooke (3-2).

The Sherbrooke setback happened this past Sunday at the Avenir Centre, when the Wildcats carried a 2-1 lead into the third period but gave up a pair of goals in the opening three minutes of the third period and only managed three shots on goal in that final frame.

Prior to Sunday’s loss to Charlottetown, the Titan had defeated Halifax 2-1 in overtime on the road and posted a 5-3 win over Shawinigan and a 4-2 decision over Sherbrooke on home ice in their previous three games.

The Titan will host Saint John on Friday while Moncton and Acadie-Bathurst will meet again on Saturday at the Avenir Centre before the Wildcats round out the weekend on Sunday at home against the Sea Dogs.

After that, Moncton will make a three-game swing through Quebec where they will meet the league’s top team, Baie Comeau (38-7-2-0), and the league’s hottest team Droummondville (13-0-1-0 in past 14) along the way. They will also play Chicoutimi.

Acadie-Bathurst will also be on the road next week with games in Gatineau, Rouyn-Noranda and Val d’Or.

Tuesday’s contest represents the fifth meeting of the season between the two clubs with Moncton taking the first three games, 6-2, 7-4 and 4-0 while the Titan responded with a 6-2 victory at home ice on December 28.