Moose back in the series with 3-1 win
2019-03-26
The Halifax Mooseheads knew they were in must-win territory and they played like it all night long in a 3-1 victory on the road over the Quebec Remparts in Game 3 of their first round, best-of-seven President Cup playoff series.
First star of the game – Raphael Lavoie scored twice, including the game-winner and an empty net insurance tally while Arnaud Durandeau got credit for the other Mooseheads goal as Halifax sliced Quebec’s series lead in half. The road team has won every game so far with the Remparts holding a 2-1 series advantage heading into Thursday’s Game 4 at the Videotron Centre at 8pm AST.
The Herd poured on the pressure in the first period with 13 shots and held sustained momentum thanks to a trio of power plays which eventually led to the first goal of the game. Maxim Trepanier continued to be a difference maker since returning from injury and sent a shot towards the net during the third man advantage of the period with Arnaud Durandeau getting his stick on it in the high slot area to beat goalie Carmine-Anthony Pagliarulo at the 15:11 mark. Durandeau’s third goal of the playoffs put the Mooseheads in front 1-0 after 20 minutes and it was a lead they never relinquished.
Halifax increased the lead to 2-0 early in the middle stanza when Samuel Asselin’s shot went wide and bounced off the end boards directly onto the stick of Lavoie who buried it at the side of the net giving the team the spark of confidence they were looking for to get back into this series. Asselin, back in the lineup after sitting out with a one game suspension, gave Lavoie a kiss on top of the helmet as they returned to the bench.
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????Asselin, Safin #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/yMgrkgLcYY— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) March 27, 2019
The Mooseheads’ lead was preserved by Alex Gravel who was excellent between the pipes with 25 saves en route to earning the third star of the game. It was a nice bounce back for the goalie who had been pulled by Head Coach Eric Veilleux after 40 minutes on Saturday night in Halifax after allowing four goals on 29 shots. Veilleux noted after Game 2 that he only made the move to try and change up his team’s momentum.
With 8,278 fans cheering them on, the Remparts controlled the play in the third period and found a way to cut into the deficit when they quickly came up the ice on a three-on-one rush. Phillip Kurashev dropped the puck off for second star Luke Kutkevicious who finished the play with a nice shot past Gravel around the midway mark of the period. That made for some tense times for the Mooseheads as they continued to dump the puck and kill the clock as much as possible. Pagliarulo was pulled for the extra attacker in the final two minutes and Lavoie sealed the victory with his second goal of the game at 19:18. Olivier Lacombe’s stick broke on a shot attempt in the Halifax zone and Lavoie rushed up the ice alongside Joel Bishop before wiring one into the cage to set off a celebration on the Mooseheads bench.
Power plays were even in the game with five aside. Halifax went 1-5 and Quebec was 0-5. Final shots were 27-26 in favour of the Mooseheads.
It’s been a tight series thus far with each of the first two games being decided by just one goal and only an empty netter made this one more than a one-goal margin of victory. Game 4 figures to be another tough battle as the Mooseheads will look to draw even in the series at two games apiece to force the series back to Moose Country next week.
Puck drop for Thursday’s Game 4 is 8pm AST on News 95.7 with play by play host Garreth MacDonald. Fans can also watch live via the QMJHL Webcast: qmjhl.neulion.com/qmjhl/
