Moose make statement on Sportsnet
2018-02-24
The Halifax Mooseheads gave a national audience a taste of what it’s been like in Moose Country this season, a whole lot of winning. The Herd got two goals and one assist from leading scorer Otto Somppi and a first star performance from goalie Alex Gravel in a 4-1 defeat of the Gatineau Olympique in a game shown coast to coast on Sportsnet.
Arnaud Durandeau put the game on ice when he slid the puck into an empty net with 16.1 seconds to play and Halifax scored its 22nd home-ice victory to improve to 39-13-6-1 overall as 8,681 fans stood and cheered. The victory is the fifth in a row for the Mooseheads who increased their Maritimes Division to six points over the idle Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
Gravel got a large ovation as the first star skated back out onto the ice after making 29 saves against a tough Olympiques squad. The sophomore goalie was the difference in the game as he took away the angles from the Gatineau shooters and made huge glove saves on more than a few occasions. The only time he was beat was on a rebound that William Basque banked off the back of Gravel’s skates nearing the midway point of the third period.
Otto Somppi struck nine seconds into the Mooseheads’ first power play of the game at 10:12 of the opening period and Max Fortier showed off his stick-handling talent to cut through the defense and he made it 2-0 late in the first period. After a scoreless middle stanza, Basque cut the Halifax lead in half but it was the Herd’s leading scorer Somppi who continued his torrid scoring pace with a one-timer goal fed by rookie defenceman Justin Barron just 94 seconds later. Somppi is on a nine-game scoring streak and has collected 18 points over that stretch. He is tops on the team and second in the QMJHL scoring race with 78 points.
Frustrations boiled over for the Olympiques after their Captain Alex Breton got tangled up awkwardly in the corner with Raphael Lavoie and had to be helped off the ice in the final five minutes of regulation. There was no penalty on the play and it appeared Breton happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lavoie was immediately jumped off the face-off by Gatineau’s Jeffrey Durocher and the young Moose winger took down his older opponent in an epic fight. That led to plenty of shouting between the benches but cooler heads eventually prevailed and the Mooseheads coasted to victory.
Final shots were 30-25 for Gatineau. Otto Somppi took the second star nod with two goals and one assist while Olympiques goalie Tristan Berube made 21 saves to earn the third star. Fortier’s goal was his 29th of the season and 101st of his career, tying him with Alex Tanguay for third in team history. Only Darcy Ashley (114) and Brandon Benedict (119) have more. Oddly enough Ashley was in the building for the game as he and former teammate Brent Andrews proudly carried the Memorial Cup to center ice during the pregame ceremonies. The cup is in Halifax for the weekend as part of the Canadian Hockey League’s 100th Memorial Cup anniversary tour. Fans were able to have their picture taken with the historic trophy and it will be available once again during the next home game when the Mooseheads host the Drummondville Voltigeurs Sunday afternoon at 3pm.
Tickets are on sale now at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office, select Superstore Outlets, TicketAtlantic.com, the Official Mooseheads Shop in Scotia Square or call 451-1221.
