MOOSEHEADS END SEA DOGS’ WINNING STREAK
SAINT JOHN – Nikolaj Ehlers and Brent Andrews each tallied a goal and assist to lead the Halifax Mooseheads to a 5-2 victory over the Saint John Sea Dogs in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Tuesday at Harbour Station.
Andrew Ryan, Danny Moynihan and Matt Murphy also found the net for Halifax (31-16-0-1), which extended its winning streak to five games.
Mooseheads’ goaltender Zachary Fucale made 22 saves to earn the 100th win of his QMJHL career in just his 145th career game. The Montreal Canadiens’ second round draft pick in 2013 becomes the fastest goaltender to reach 100 wins in league history.
The Sea Dogs (14-28-1-3) got goals from Nicolas Hebert and Nathan Noel while seeing their own three-game win streak come to an end.
A complete game summary can be found HERE.
The defending MasterCard Memorial Cup champions attempted to take control of the game early.
In the opening ninety seconds, Ehlers found himself alone in the high slot and rifled a wrist shot that just missed the net.
A short time later, defenceman Jesse Lussier took a drop pass on the right side, cut in off the wing and chipped a shot that Saint John goalie Sebastien Auger had to kick out with his left foot.
Halifax opened the scoring on a power play just past the halfway point of the first.
Two-time Team Canada world junior forward Jonathan Drouin fired a shot from the point that missed the net to Auger’s right. Darcy Ashley recovered it near the side of the net and swung a pass to the top of the crease where Ryan lifted it beyond the goalie’s glove.
The Sea Dogs enjoyed a 58-second 5-on-3 power play late in the opening frame, but could not score. Olivier LeBlanc had the best chance, blasting a one-time slap shot from the middle of the point into the midsection of Fucale.
The Mooseheads outshot Saint John 10-8 in the first period and led 1-0.
Saint John got back to even terms on a delayed penalty call three minutes into the second period.
Mathieu Joseph sprung Spencer Smallman with a breakaway pass on the right side. The Summerside-born forward was hooked before he got a shot, but fed a pass across the low slot to Hebert, who snapped it just across the line for his second goal as a Sea Dog.
But Ehlers restored the Halifax lead just 1:21 later.
The Danish winger finished off a beautiful give-and-go with Ashley, ripping a hard wrister past Auger’s glove to make it a 2-1 game.
The Sea Dogs had two more short, two-man advantages in the second half of the period, but Fucale stood tall.
With about six minutes left, the Moose netminder made a pad save on a long point shot, and then denied Saint John’s Marcus Cuomo of a goal on a rebound attempt from the right wing side of the crease.
Halifax doubled its lead with more than five minutes left in the period when Ehlers knocked down a Sea Dogs’ clearing attempt on the left wing boards and fed a bullet-pass to Moynihan in front, who one-timed the puck into an open net.
The Mooseheads led 3-1 through forty minutes. Saint John outshot Halifax in the second period 11-10.
Fredericton-native Matt Murphy extended Halifax’s lead to three goals, wiring a wrist shot over Auger’s blocker four minutes into the third.
The Sea Dogs cut the deficit back to two goals with just over eight minutes left.
Nathan Noel led a 3-on-1 rush on the left wing, but his pass in front of the net was blocked. The St. John’s-native recovered the loose puck and banked it between Fucale’s legs to make it 4-2.
Andrews sealed the Halifax triumph with an empty net goal with eleven seconds remaining.
The Sea Dogs were outshot 14-5 in the third period and 34-24 in the game.
Auger made 29 stops in defeat for Saint John.
Ehlers earned first star with two points while Ryan grabbed second star with the game’s opening goal.
Smallman had an assist and four shots, and took home third star honours in front of 2,857 at Harbour Station.
The Sea Dogs’ next game is Saturday, January 25th, at 7 p.m. against the Baie-Comeau Drakkar at Harbour Station. Tickets are available at the Harbour Station box office, online at tickets.harbourstation.ca, or by calling 657-1234.
Listen LIVE on News 88.9 FM. Watch LIVE on TELUS (via theqmjhl.ca – fee applies).
