SUNDAY SHOOTOUT AT SCOTIABANK CENTRE
On a day where fans were buzzing about the announced return of Nikolaj Ehlers, Danny Moynihan provided the spark the Mooseheads were looking for on offense and the Sunday afternoon crowd at Scotiabank Centre was treated to an exciting back-and-forth battle with the Val d’Or Foreurs.
Moynihan tallied twice in the third period with his first goals of the season. The New Hampshire native tied the contest 2-2 just 44 seconds into the final period, going top shelf on Foreurs netminder Etienne Montpetit and later gave the Herd the lead when he buried a wrist shot from the right circle on the power play at 5:59.
Halifax fought back from a 2-1 deficit thanks to Moynihan but would eventually drop a 4-3 shootout decision in a rematch of last season’s exciting seven-game QMJHL semi-final playoff series.
Shawn Ouellette-St-Amant’s backhand shot trickled by Zach Fucale at 13:52 of the third period to send the game to overtime, which didn’t solve anything.
“It’s a tough loss you know I thought we had a great start. We let up a little bit too much in the second period and then we played really well in the third and then you never know what can happen in a shootout,” said Moynihan who was awarded the second star of the game.
Moynihan and Philippe Gadoury both came up empty in their shootout attempts, while Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Anthony Beauregard tallied to give Val d’Or the victory.
Fucale was busy throughout the night making 33 stops and was able to keep the game close with a number of spectacular saves. The Montreal Canadiens prospect brought the crowd of 7095 to their feet during the opening period when he kicked out a tough shot and followed that up with a slick glove save on back-to-back shots.
Stephen Anderson and Aube-Kubel also scored in regulation for the Foreurs who snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Vince Watt got Halifax on the board with his second goal of the season with less than one minute remaining in the first period, tying the game 1-1, and giving the Moose their first goal in 147 minutes. Watt earned third star honours in the loss.
Montpetit made 25 saves to guide his club its third win of the year, while Mooseheads veteran Austyn Hardie led both teams with four hits.
Halifax went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Val d’Or scored once in two tries with the man advantage.
The Mooseheads played without rookie defenseman Jean-Sebastien Taillefer who is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury. Blueliner Brandon Worthen took Taillefer’s place in the lineup after he was recalled from the Valley Wildcats of the MJAHL.
Halifax falls to 2-4-1-1 on the season and will finish off a three-game homestand when they play host to the Charlottetown Islanders on Friday night at 7pm in the annual Pink in the Rink game.
Tickets are on sale now at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office at Scotiabank Centre, select Superstore Outlets, www.TicketAtlantic.com or by phone at 902-451-1221.