Mooseheads make a comeback vs Cape Breton
2023-09-10
Your Halifax Mooseheads waited until the final period to do all of their scoring in a 4-2 come-from-behind preseason victory over Cape Breton on Sunday. Jake Todd scored the game-winning goal with exactly 90 seconds remaining in regulation to give Halifax a second consecutive weekend win.
The Herd were coming off a 4-3 overtime win on the road versus Charlottetown on Saturday where Reece Peitzsche was the OT hero. The sophomore forward scored again on Sunday to continue what has been a solid training camp for the 16-year-old from Beaver Bank, NS. Peitzsche’s third of the preseason broke goalie Brandon Lavoie’s shutout bid 7:40 into the third period after second period tallies by Will Shields and Luke McPhee staked the Eagles to a 2-0 advantage.
The chippy battle between the provincial rivals featured a pair of lineups that will be very similar to what both teams will have on the ice during the regular season. Only three regulars sat out for the Mooseheads with Jordan Dumais, Jake Furlong and Mathieu Cataford watching from the stands. Those three along with defenceman Dylan MacKinnon will leave for their respective NHL training camps this week.
Halifax continued to pour on the pressure in the final period following the Peitzsche goal and Markus Vidicek followed it up just a couple of minutes later with a fine individual effort of his own to pull his team even at 2-2 on the scoreboard. The Moose put 13 shots on net in the third period, while finishing with a total of 28 and just when it looked like overtime might be in the cards for a second straight day, Todd ripped in a shot from the top of the circle for a 3-2 lead. Lou Levesque added an empty net marker on the backhand and the capacity crowd went home happy.
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Dylan MacKinnon was the centre of attention for the Eagles thanks to his physical play. The Nashville Predators prospect dished out a couple of big hits but was targeted by Cape Breton’s Emile Ricard with a hit from behind late in the second period. Thankfully, MacKinnon was able to jump right back to his feet and Ricard was sent to the box with a two-minute minor penalty. The big Mooseheads defenceman took exception to the hit and went looking for some retribution the next time the two were on the ice together. MacKinnon ended up with a penalty for checking to the head while Ricard and Halifax’s Jake Todd were handed 10-minute misconducts for their involvement.
Mathis Rousseau made his first start of the exhibition season in goal and turned aside 26 of the 28 shots he faced. The Mooseheads improved to 2-and-3 in the preseason and are set to wrap up the schedule this Friday night in Cape Breton.
The regular season will begin with a bang on Friday, September 22nd at Scotiabank Centre when Nathan MacKinnon’s number 22 will be raised to the rafters in a jersey retirement ceremony to kick off the 30th anniversary season in Halifax. Individual tickets for all 34 Mooseheads home games go on sale Monday morning at 11am at Ticketmaster.ca.
