Massive Moose Victory to Snap Drummondville’s Streak
2024-02-02
You always want to win every game, but there are certain games you just want to win a little bit more than others. Friday night’s contest in Drummondville was one of those games for your Mooseheads and the Herd did not disappoint by coming away with a monumental 4-3 victory. There was a definite playoff-like atmosphere in what could likely be called the biggest game of the season to date.
The Mooseheads (31-11-7-1) knocked off the hottest team in the QMJHL by handing the Voltigeurs their first regulation loss since they fell in Halifax back in early December. Since that game at Scotiabank Centre, Drummondville had gone 14-0-1-0 until the Moose snapped the streak Friday thanks to an electric third period that saw Lou-Felix Denis tie the game on the power play before Lou Levesque deflected in a blast from Dylan MacKinnon for the first and only lead of the night for the Herd.
Halifax played from behind for most of the evening while erasing deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before pulling ahead in the final half of the third period. Mathis Rousseau was aided by a strong defensive effort from his teammates and the goalie earned the second victory for the Moose in 24 hours with 37 saves. The Herd were coming off a 4-2 road win over Victoriaville on Thursday.
Drummondville (32-10-4-1) held a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of action courtesy of a Vsevolod Komarov goal at the 11:01 mark. The play heavily favoured the Western Conference leading Volts in the opening frame and they outshot Halifax 17-9. The Mooseheads returned the favour with a strong second period that saw teams head to their dressing rooms in a 2-2 tie. Mathieu Cataford helped the Herd pull even 9:58 into the period when Brady Schultz made a fine play to set him up all alone in front of the net. The goal was the 32nd of the season for Cataford which is a new career high. The home squad then went back on top 2-1 when Maxim Lafond cut down the middle and had a puck go off of his skate in into the net. The officials quickly reviewed the play to ensure that there was no kicking motion and they confirmed that it was a good goal. Then it was Markus Vidicek’s turn to put his shot on display when he wired in a shot from a tough angle near the goal line to tie the game once again.
LFD loads up for a blast to tie the game.
🚨 Denis (24) PP 8:31 3rd period
🍎 Cataford, Schultz | #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/NGcseS1N3c— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) February 3, 2024
It appeared as though the Herd made a crucial error early in the third period when Cataford took a high sticking penalty while skating with the puck in the offensive zone. Drummondville features the top power play percentage in the league and they put it to work immediately as Alexis Gendron lit the lamp 28 seconds after Cataford sat down in the penalty box and the Volts went back ahead 3-2.
That’s when the Mooseheads really came to life and gave a great push back to take over the game. The Halifax enjoying a power play of their own, Cataford slipped the puck across to the middle of the ice where Lou-Felix Denis was loaded up and ready to hammer a one-timer that tied the game 3-3 by beating goalie Riley Mercer with a laser of a shot. Brady Schultz picked up his third assist of the game on the goal.
Sweet deflection from Sweet Louuuu to put us in front
🚨 Levesque (11) 10:23 3rd period
🍎 MacKinnon, Phillips | #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/BmM7vr7BrN— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) February 3, 2024
The Moose kept the pedal down and it was only 1:52 later when Dylan MacKinnon took a hard shot on net that Lou Levesque got a stick on from the slot and it deflected into the net. The visitors could smell blood in the water and put their game on complete lockdown the rest of the way by playing terrific defence against a powerful offence. Halifax hung on to survive and were clearly fired up as the game came to an end. MacKinnon had two assists in the win while Owen Phillips also assisted on the game-winner.
The Herd have one more game to go on a season-defining road trip that concludes Saturday afternoon at 5pm AST in Shawinigan. Fans can listen to the game on CityNews 95.7 or watch on the CHL TV webcast.
