The Halifax Mooseheads returned home after a successful road trip which concluded Sunday evening in Victoriaville, Que. The Mooseheads earned five points out of a maximum of eight despite playing some of the league’s top teams in a span of five days.
It started Wednesday night in Baie Comeau against the Drakkar. This game featured a lot of publicity of all the wrong reasons as there was a controversial, although quite successful, marketing campaign targeting 16-year-old star Nathan MacKinnon. In front of a very detestable crowd, MacKinnon would score the game’s first goal. Halifax eventually lost 2-1 in a shootout.
Friday night in Chicoutimi was a rematch of the January tilt which was aired nationally on Rogers Sportsnet. The Moose lost that game 7-4 but were able to exact some revenge Friday thanks in part to Matt Boudreau’s two goals, one of which came on the power play. The Moose would go on to win 4-1.
Saturday saw the Memorial Cup hosts Shawinigan prove too strong for the depleted and weary Mooseheads. Shawinigan won the game 5-2 outshooting Halifax 43-17 in the process. Despite Shawinigan carrying the play most of the night, Halifax kept the score close until the final minute when Shawinigan scored two goals in the empty net.
Halifax’s roadtrip came to a conclusion Sunday afternoon in Victoriaville. Andrew Ryan scored his seventh of the season and Alex Grenier scored in the shootout to give Halifax a 2-1 victory.
The Mooseheads (30-18-2-4) won’t have much time to rest after what could be their toughest road trip of the season. They play back-to-back games at home starting Thursday night against the sixth-place Rimouski Oceanic (34-22-0-0). Then on Friday, the Moose will once again play the fourth-place VictoriavilleTigres (35-16-1-3).
