Groulx has the Power – Moose win in OT
2018-11-20
Make it 17 wins on the season for your Halifax Mooseheads as power play specialist BO Groulx finished things in style in a 4-3 overtime win against the Charlottetown Islanders on Tuesday night.
Groulx brought the crowd of 6,428 to their feet as he snapped in a shot from the left circle for his sixth power play goal in six games 3:53 into the extra period and Halifax upped its regular season record to 17-4-1-0 with the victory.
“It was an ugly win but we still pulled it off so we got the two points at the end so that’s all that matters,” Groulx said postgame.
The goal was almost a sigh of relief from the Herd after the team coughed up a 3-0 lead as Charlottetown clawed back after falling behind early. Jared McIsaac got the ball rolling for the Mooseheads with a nifty wrap-around goal just 57 seconds into the game while Arnaud Durandeau and Antoine Morand padded the lead with goals 21 seconds apart and the home team jumped out to a comfortable looking lead after 20 minutes.
Just when it appeared as though the Isles were on the ropes and their starting goalie Matt Welsh was in trouble of getting the hook, Charlottetown turned the tables on the Mooseheads. The second period belonged to the visitors as they gained the momentum by outshooting the Herd 15-2 and got a goal from Derek Gentile at the 14:25 mark to cut into the deficit. That momentum carried into the third period where Alex Gravel once again saw plenty of rubber and early goals from Colin Van Den Hurk and Daniel Hardie pulled Charlottetown even and had the Moose Country faithful feeling a little worried. The Mooseheads had some great chances before regulation expired but couldn’t get one to go in.
Groulx felt the team wasn’t able to stick to their gameplan in the second and third periods.
“I think maybe they deserved to win more than us but we have a clutch team that can score at good times.”
The intensity climaxed in the overtime period with the teams trading chances before rookie defenceman Lukas Cormier was caught flat footed and took a tripping penalty as a result. Halifax was buzzing on the 4-on-3 man advantage and Jared McIsaac wired a perfect pass across the ice to Groulx who took his time to settle the puck down before getting off a perfect shot that beat Welsh and sent a pile of red jerseys onto the ice.
Final shots were 36-22 in favour of the Islanders as Halifax handed them just their third loss in their last 14 games. The Mooseheads haven’t lost in regulation since the home opener on October 27th and have now gone 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.
3 Stars: BO Groulx’s game winning goal was paired with an assist on Arnaud Durandeau’s tally and he was named the 1st star. Nikita Alexandrov was a thorn in the side of the Mooseheads throughout the game. His two assists helped him take the 2nd star. Alex Gravel came up big when it mattered most and finished with 33 saves for the third star.
Streaking: Samuel Asselin extended his point scoring streak to nine straight games with an assist. He has 16 points over that span and has only been held off the scoresheet in four of his 22 games as a member of the Mooseheads.
Moose Scratches: Injuries continued to keep Samuel Dube, Kyle Petten and Cole Stewart out of the lineup while Denis Toner was the lone healthy scratch.
Next Game(s): The Mooseheads will play twice at home this weekend when they entertain a couple of incredibly tough opponents. Baie-Comeau visits Scotiabank Centre Saturday night at 7pm for Nurse Appreciation Night. Drummondville comes to town on 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 charge by phone 902-451-1221.
