Halifax Mooseheads head coach Andrew Lord has spent the primary month of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) season attempting to show his crew right into a cohesive unit. Sadly, the crew has had a revolving door of gamers resulting from accidents. Regardless of the problems of retooling, accidents, and a brand new teaching employees, Halifax has had some successes this season. That they had a strong begin with 4 consecutive wins to kick off the season and have had some stellar particular person performances which have led to wins.
Associated: Halifax Mooseheads Retool for 2024-25 Season
The crew returned from a tough street journey the place wins weren’t within the playing cards, however now, they start off a four-game homestand. There’s hope that residence cooking and relaxation will help the membership discover some wins, and see the roster return to full well being. The opening weekend of the homestand supplied the followers with some thrilling moments.
Moosheads’ Gutsy Win Over Huskies
The Mooseheads kicked off their homestand on Friday, Nov. 1, internet hosting 2023-24 scoring champion Antonin Verreault, the one QMJHL participant to get greater than 100 factors on the season (107) and his Rouyn Noranda Huskies. The sport began as one would anticipate from a crew settling in at residence, as Halifax was slightly sluggish and disorganized. They appeared nervous as they saved attempting to do an excessive amount of, with a number of small errors that led to turnovers the Huskies become scoring alternatives.
Rouyn threw wave after wave of strain on the assault, but goaltender Mathis Rousseau stood tall and shut the door. The Huskies managed the tempo of play for all the first interval, which continued for many of the recreation. The Mooseheads didn’t get a shot on purpose till 12:00 into the primary, and it was their solely shot of the body.
The second interval wasn’t a lot totally different because the Huskies sensed some hesitation, however that didn’t final lengthy as Liam Kilfoil took issues into his personal fingers after he was the goal of a really heavy hit. He was again the subsequent shift and returned the favour, then continued taking part in a extra bodily recreation.
Braeden MacPhee adopted that up with just a few power shifts to get the gang abuzz with some large hits and scrums after the whistle. Rookie and hometown boy Danny Walters scored his first purpose on residence ice when he transformed a stellar move on a two-on-one from fellow rookie Amelio Santini on the halfway level of the second interval. In the meantime, Rousseau remained excellent
It will get stranger https://t.co/LBVyQFu1uy pic.twitter.com/nbqoX2YxzX
— Blain (@BlainPotvin_THW) November 1, 2024
It wasn’t till the third interval earlier than Rouyn solved Rousseau on a Invoice Zonnon tip-in purpose, on the 41st shot on internet.
Liam Kilfoil wins it in a shootout for the @HFXMooseheads
A 2-1 win the place goaltender Mathis Rousseau was spectacular, making 48 saves (+ 3more within the shootout)#THW
🌟 🌟 🌟 Zonnon
🌟 🌟 Kilfoil
🌟 Rousseau pic.twitter.com/TqHDoPJa58— Blain (@BlainPotvin_THW) November 2, 2024
Rousseau shut the door for the remainder of the sport, together with in time beyond regulation (48 saves), stopping all three shootout makes an attempt earlier than Kilfoil scored the winner to steer Halifax to a 2-1 victory.
Might Mooseheads Commerce Rosseau?
If the Mooseheads proceed to hover close to the ultimate playoff place within the Maritime Division, a QMJHL crew trying to contend for the league title and even a Memorial Cup championship might begin kicking the tires on Rousseau’s availability because the league’s prime goaltender. Whereas he’s undersized at 5-foot-11, he makes up for it together with his athleticism, compete stage, and talent to trace pucks via a crowd.
Halifax Must Refuel
Halifax continued their homestand on Sunday, as they welcomed former Mooseheads ahead Markus Vidicek and defenseman Dylan MacKinnon, who had been each traded to the Moncton Wildcats within the offseason as a part of the crew’s retooling. The Herd entered Sunday’s motion nonetheless feeling energized off Friday’s win backstopped by Rousseau’s 48-save efficiency, but it surely didn’t take lengthy for Halifax to path on this recreation as Moncton had way more firepower to take care of.
Vidicek factored into the primary purpose after he pressured a turnover and supplied an ideal feed to Alex Mercer. The Mooseheads received a style of their very own medication as they pushed again with stellar play within the opening stanza however had been stymied by goaltender Jacob Steinman.
Moncton, nonetheless, continued to play rope-a-dope into the third interval, and with the rating tied at 1-1, they opened the gates and turned the sport right into a wide-open race. Halifax merely couldn’t sustain with the breakneck tempo and was pressured to take a number of penalties. This supplied Moncton with the opening they wanted as they scored two power-play objectives from Vidicek and the game-winning purpose from Caleb Desnoyers. There have been two extra objectives, an empty-netter and a garbage-time purpose, as they outshot the Mooseheads 41-31.
Jam-Packed weekend of Mooseheads motion!
Come out to our annual salute to the Canadian Forces with DND Appreciation Night time Saturday at 7pm. Plus, Sunday afternoon options the Moose vs the Titan at 3pm.
🎟️ Tickets: https://t.co/jlHTNfsk6j #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/UFgGtnaLuh
— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) November 4, 2024
The Herd fell to seventh place within the Maritime Division and an 8-7-2 report with the loss. In the meantime, division rival Moncton, led by Desnoyers, improved to a formidable 13-2-2 to take over the only real place on the prime of the division. Halifax shall be again in motion on Saturday, Nov. 9, towards the visiting Baie-Comeau Drakkar as a part of Army Appreciation Night time on the Scotiabank Centre to proceed the homestand.
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