Late goal sinks Moose in Shawinigan
2026-01-30
Owen Bresson was brilliant in his return to face his former team in Shawinigan, but his 40 saves weren’t enough for the Mooseheads who dropped a 3-1 decision to the Cataractes on Friday night at the Gervais Auto Centre.
Frederic Bergeron’s goal with 3:38 remaining in regulation was the difference as Shawinigan took their first lead of the night and kept it for good. Bedford, NS native Cole Chandler fired in his second goal of the game into an empty net just over a minute later to seal the comeback victory for the home team.
The Mooseheads got off to a solid start in the opener of their three-game weekend road trip when star rookie Oleg Kulebiakin made a highlight reel assist to set up Shawn Carrier for the only goal of the first period at 12:42 on the power play. The goal was Carrier’s team-best 26th of the season and QMJHL-leading seventh game-opening goal of the season. The NHL draft eligible Kulebiakin leads Halifax in scoring with 48 points. He has 22 goals and 26 assists in his first season in the QMJHL. Carrier, a native of nearby Trois Rivieres, QC was playing in front of several friends and family members.
Oleg Kulebiakin puts it on a tee for Shawn Carrier 😲@FloHockey | #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/Ga5KkCUvVf
— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) January 31, 2026
Bresson was sharp from the get-go and stopped all 18 shots he faced in the first period and was honoured during a break in play in his first game back since being traded to Halifax in the offseason. It took until the 12:52 mark of the second period before the Cataractes could solve him with a Cole Chandler shot from between the circles to even the score 1-1. Bresson stopped 11-of-12 shots in the middle frame.
The evenly matched game looked like it might need extra time to find a winner but the Cataractes cycled the puck in the Mooseheads zone and Bergeron beat a partially screen Bresson with a point shot as Halifax defenceman Brenden Espenell was trying to clear the area in front of the net. The Herd barely had time to attempt to get back to even footing before Chandler shot his second goal into the empty net to end any hope for the visitors.
The Mooseheads were perfect on the penalty kill by killing off all five Shawinigan power plays while the Moose went one-for-four on the man advantage. Halifax fired a total of 34 shots at goalie Mathys Fernandez who made 33 saves for the win.
The record now stands at 20-19-3-2 for the Moose with two more to play on the busy road trip through the province of Quebec. Halifax will visit Victoriaville Saturday night at 7pm and will finish in Sherbrooke on Sunday afternoon at 4pm. All times are AST.
The next home game for the Mooseheads is Wednesday, February 4th against the Newfoundland Regiment. Unlock $10 Upper Bowl tickets with by using the code ‘PROMO’. Halifax will also host the Cape Breton Eagles on Saturday, February 7th at 7pm. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.ca
