Steinman stars in Moncton despite Mooseheads loss
2025-02-15
On a night where the Moncton Wildcats honoured former goalie Jacob Steinman with a video tribute for his three-and-a-half years of service to the team, the overage netminder put on one of his finest displays of the year in a 3-1 loss for the visiting Halifax Mooseheads where he made 48 saves and was the best player on the ice.
Steinman received a massive ovation from the fans in his return to the Avenir Centre and made 18 first period saves including a pair of stops on Wildcats shorthanded breakaways before issuing a clean slate in the second period with an additional 17 saves. The goalie was moved to the Herd at the deadline in a deal that sent Moose legend Mathis Rousseau and forward Logan Crosby the other way. Neither of the former Halifax players suited up in the game because of injuries.
While it was an outstanding night for Steinman, things didn’t exactly get off to a great start as Markus Vidicek opened the scoring just 14 seconds into the game. The former Mooseheads star tossed the puck on net from the sidewall and drove to the crease where he quickly popped in a rebound that landed on his stick.
Another shot, another Steinman save. #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/C332BNYuvI
— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) February 16, 2025
Moncton pushed hard in the early going but the Moose found a way to shift the momentum, albeit it brief, and rookie Will Bent tied the game with his third of the season at the 7:32 mark. The young American deflected a nice feed ahead by defenceman Carlos Handel while Shawn Carrier also picked up an assist against his former team.
Adam Fortier-Gendron scored the difference in the matchup when he buried the game-winner midway through the third period on the 47th shot of the game for the Cats. The defenceman hammered a blast off the draw when he skated in from the blueline to unleash a shot as the puck trickled towards his stick. Moncton tacked on another late goal from Maxime Cote to round out the scoring.
The teams will meet in a rematch on Monday afternoon in a Heritage Day holiday matinee at 2pm at Scotiabank Centre. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.ca
