Moose suffer first defeat as road trip comes to a close
2024-09-30
All good things come to an end, and the young Halifax Mooseheads had their perfect record snapped in Charlottetown on Monday afternoon in a 3-1 loss to the Islanders. The Herd started the campaign with four consecutive wins to tie the 2018-19 tea, for best start in franchise history.
Monday’s game on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was mostly a defensive battle between the two squads with similar coaching systems. Both clubs blocked plenty of shots and clogged lanes in front of their goaltenders and the match was deadlocked at 1-1 until Matt Butler broke through with a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes of action.
Butler’s first tally came on the power play at 10:42 of the third period and he added another with a hard shot from the slot with 5:57 remaining in regulation to earn the first star.
Charlottetown was first on the board on their very first shot of the game off the stick of Will Shields, which also came on the power play. It was the first goal allowed on the penalty kill by the Moose this season after the team went a perfect 15-for-15 in the first four games. Halifax fought back to tie the game with a power play goal of their own when Shawn Carrier ripped home his third goal of the season with assists going to Liam Kilfoil and Logan Crosby. Carrier also contributed five hits in the loss to lead both teams.
Jack Milner made his first start between the pipes and was tagged with the loss after stopping 24 of the 27 shots he faced. At the other end of the ice it was Donald Hickey picking up his first career win and the second star of the game with 35 saves on 36 shots.
Attendance at the Eastlink Centre was 2646 and the Islanders held pregame and intermission ceremonies in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Your Mooseheads have wrapped up their extended season-opening road trip with a QMJHL-leading 4-1 record and can now focus on the Home Opener this Friday night at 7pm at Scotiabank Centre against the Quebec Remparts. The Moose will also host MVP Mathieu Cataford and the Rimouski Oceanic on Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.ca.
