Moose roll over Eagles
Moose drop Eagles 7-3
By Willy Palov – Sports Reporter
The Chronicle Herald
Tuesday’s game between the Halifax Mooseheads and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles unfolded in two chapters.
The teams kept it tight defensively through the first two periods and then turned on the tap offensively in the final 20 minutes. The Mooseheads got the better of their provincial rivals, scoring five times in the third period on their way to a 7-3 win in front of 6,137 fans at the Metro Centre.
“We didn’t have the start that we wanted but our PK (penalty kill) and our goaltender really stepped up in the first period and gave us a chance,” said Halifax forward Darcy Ashley.
“That line of (Nikolaj) Ehlers, Brent (Andrews) and (Andrew Ryan) really set the tone. They were our best line and they worked really hard. We kind of fed off what they did on the ice.”
Cape Breton’s William Carrier scored the game’s first goal at 16:18 of the first period but Ryan answered for Halifax 16.7 seconds before the first intermission.
Andrews put the Mooseheads ahead with an inspired individual effort while killing a penalty late in the second. He forced Cape Breton goalie Alex Bureau to cough up the puck, then collected it and shot it into the open net to make it 2-1. The goal seemed to turn the whole game in Halifax’s favour.
“He’s really good on the PK, especially offensively,” Ashley said. “He can anticipate what they’re going to do with the puck. That’s definitely a big strength out there for him. I thought he was playing well at both ends, skating hard and causing turnovers and making them play defence all night.”
The Mooseheads blew the game open in the third period with goals from Ryan, Ehlers, Ashley, Andrew Shewfelt, and Luca Ciampini. Cameron Darcy and Charles-Eric Legare scored late goals for Cape Breton.
The scoring play by Ashley was Halifax’s second shorthanded goal of the night.
“I might’ve got a lucky one there; it kind of went off the goalie’s back and in, but we’ll take those,” Ashley said. “I think our biggest strength on the PK is just making sure we play harder than they do on the power play because you’re down a man. If we continue to do that, I think we’ll have a lot of success.”
Zachary Fucale finished with 40 saves for Halifax and Bureau stopped 22 shots for Cape Breton.
The Screaming Eagles beat the Mooseheads 5-2 on Sept. 22. This was the teams’ first meeting of the season in Halifax.
“It was just a couple of unlucky bounces in the third,” said Cape Breton’s Darcy. “I think we played well but we ended up on the short side.
“I think our team’s really come together the past two weeks and had a lot of big wins lately. We played well tonight but it just didn’t go our way.”
The win moves the Mooseheads (8-6) two points clear of the Screaming Eagles (6-4-0-2) in the standings, although Cape Breton has two games in hand. Halifax is now alone in second place in the Maritimes Division, one point behind the Charlottetown Islanders.
“It’s going to take time, we’ve got a lot of new guys,” Ashley said. “But the best thing we can do as older guys on the team is make sure we’re setting them in the right direction. You’ve got to have guys pushing and pulling on this team. Maybe at the start we were kind of pulling them along but now they’re starting to push. When you get everyone going in the same direction it’s a hard team to beat.”
The Mooseheads’ next game is on Friday at home against the Val-d’Or Foreurs.
“They’re a big, physical team and they’ve got a lot of offence with (Anthony) Mantha and (Randy) Gazzola,” Ashley said. “It’s going to be a good challenge for us. But if we want to go far in the playoffs and have a chance to win this thing, we’re going to have to beat teams like that four times so we’ve just got to focus on our game and make sure we move our feet.”
Notes: Trey Lewis (hip), Jonathan Drouin (groin), Jesse Lussier (cut ear), Liam Alcalde (scratch) and Max Lindsay (scratch) did not play for Halifax.