Emotional Roller Coaster in Home Opener Defeat
2026-09-19
The Halifax Mooseheads had no trouble finding the back of the net in the Home Opener on Saturday night against Moncton, but they unfortunately didn’t do themselves any favours in keeping the puck out of their own net thanks to some costly turnovers. Halifax held the lead on three separate occasions but eventually fell 6-5 in overtime to the visitors in front of 8,122 fans at Scotiabank Centre.
Rian Chudzinski got one across the line in the extra period with 15 seconds to go in a power play following a Nathan Langlois tripping call just 31 seconds into OT. Niko Tournas had a night to remember for Moncton with a hat trick.
The Mooseheads held leads of 2-1, 4-3 and 5-4 only to watch the Cats stick around and find a way to win despite Halifax heavily out-shooting their opponents 38-17.
The line of Quinn Kennedy, Nathan Langlois and Paul Sintschnig was nearly unstoppable as Kennedy contributed two goals and two assists, Langlois chipped in with two goals and one assist and the Austrian rookie Sintschnig scored his first career goal and added two helpers. Kennedy is the early QMJHL scoring leader with eight points in his first two games.
In the end it was goalie Jacoby Weiner coming away with the win between the pipes with 33 saves while Jack Fichthorn was tagged with the loss with 11 stops on 17 shots.
Former Mooseheads forward Liam Kilfoil was honoured during a break for his contributions over the last three seasons with the team. He was dealt to the Cats over the summer and had a three-assist effort in his return to Moose Country.
Other assists for Halifax came from Malik L’Italien with two, and singles from call-up Ty Peddigrew and Owen Phillips.
It wasn’t an easy loss to swallow for the Herd but the team did manage to earn three-of-a-possible four points on opening weekend and will make some adjustments moving forward. The Moose previously took down Cape Breton 5-4 in a shootout on Friday night.
Postgame interview with Quinn Kennedy. He has 8 points through two games. #GoMooseGo | #ForTheCity pic.twitter.com/G8uK7zzYPQ
— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) September 20, 2026
Halifax will eagerly await the returns of star forwards Mateo Nobert, Shawn Carrier and Oleg Kulebiakin from their respective NHL training camps. The Mooseheads will take their 1-0-1-0 record on the road for the next four games with a weekend double bill on tap in Newfoundland next Friday and Saturday, while the club will make stops in Moncton on Friday, October 2nd and Saint John on Sunday, October 4th before returning to Scotiabank Centre for a five-game homestand that begins with a Student Night matchup against Rouyn-Noranda on Thursday, October 8th, followed by Country Night on Saturday, October 10th versus Drummondville. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.ca.
