Kennedy scores in debut as Moose fall to Titan
2024-12-28
Recently acquired forward Quinn Kennedy scored in his first game as a member of the Mooseheads and Justin Breton notched his first career QMJHL goal, but it was all downhill after those moments in a 6-2 loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
Kennedy opened the scoring on Saturday night in the first game back from the Christmas break when he sniped from the top of the left circle off a first period draw on a power play. The Upper Tantallon, NS native was acquired on the first day of the trade period from Rimouski in an exchange that saw Jack Martin and Lou Levesque go the other way. The goal was part of a solid start to the game by the Herd and Halifax took the early lead to the dressing room after outshooting the Titan 13-7 through 20 minutes.
The second period didn’t start out too badly for the Moose but turned into an atrocious one by the time the horn sounded. Bathurst tied the game on a Noah Laberge goal at the 5:26 mark before Breton scored his memorable one just 26 seconds later. It was at this point that things took a turn for the worse for Halifax. The Titan reeled off four consecutive goals including two by Alexandre Lallier while Mathieu St-Onge and Dawson Sharkey also found the back of the net and it was a 5-2 game. Bathurst outshot the Mooseheads 22-5 in the forgettable frame. Louis-Francois Belanger added one more in the third period for a 6-2 final.
Special teams played a massive role for the Titan as they scored twice on the power play and scored two more while shorthanded. It was a fairly chippy affair with 29 penalty minutes handed out, including a five-minute major and a game misconduct to Halifax’s Braeden MacPhee just 4:12 into the game.
Josh Fleming earned the win in goal for the home squad with 32 saves while Mathis Rousseau had a difficult evening with 33 saves on 39 shots.
The Mooseheads had a pair of call-ups in the lineup as 17-year-old forward Tucker Makinen made his QMJHL debut and defenceman Jameson George was also in the lineup. Both players were 2023 draft picks by the team. Recently signed goalie Nick Cirka was a healthy scratch but is expected to dress during the Mooseheads’ upcoming home and home series with Cape Breton.
Halifax will visit the Eagles Monday night at 7pm before returning to a sold-out Scotiabank Centre Tuesday afternoon for a New Year’s Eve 2pm matinee.
