RECAP: Holding On

HALIFAX - For the second night in a row, your Halifax Mooseheads chased the visiting starting goaltender from the net but this time had a harder time holding on to get the victory. The Mooseheads came out firing tonight scoring 4 goals on their first 5 shots in the first period against Moncton. The Wildcats scored the first goal but Halifax was able to score 2 minutes later and took a 4-1 lead into the second period. The four goal output chased goaltender Jason Rioux after 12 minutes of play. Alex Dubeau came in as a replacement and once again stoned the Mooseheads. Halifax has had a tricky time getting pucks past Dubeau the last two seasons when the two teams play each other. Despite Dubeau not letting in a goal by the home team, the boys in front of him couldn't solve Zach Fucale enough times to overcome the 4 goal first period only getting as close as 4-3.

It was another feisty game this evening with another 3 fights breaking out including a line brawl. Frustration was boiling over for both teams with a total of 25 infractions being handed out by the end of the game. Connor Moynihan received an aggressor penalty that started the line brawl and will get an automatic one game suspension. Surprisingly, the Wildcats were unable to tie the game up with the resulting 5 minute powerplay in the middle of the third period. Kelly Bent had a fight for the second game in a row as well, he actually had 2 this evening.

FINAL: Wildcats 3 at Mooseheads 4
Stars: 3. Gadoury HAL | 2. Garland MON | 1. Murphy HAL
Attendance: 7,549
MC's Top Herd: Kelly Bent

GAME LOG
First period
7:19 MON Stephen Johnson (16), PP | A: Garland & Barbashev
9:18 HAL Danny Moynihan (9) | A: Ehlers & Meier
10:21 HAL Kelly Bent (2) | A: Ford & Leblanc
11:36 HAL Matt Murphy (3), PP | A: Gadoury & Hardie
12:04 HAL Nikolaj Ehlers (11) | A: Murphy & Meier

Shots: Halifax led shots in the first 8 to 5 over Moncton

Second period
2:44 MON Ivan Barbashev (18), PP | A: Garland & Talbot-Tassi

Shots: Halifax had 9 pucks to the net in the middle from versus Moncton's 7

Third period
6:20 MON Zachary Malatesta (4) | A: Jacob & Garland

Shots: Moncton led third period shot 6-5 but Halifax led overall shots 22-18

POWERPLAY
Moncton: 2-for-6
Halifax: 1-for-5

GOALIES
Winning goaltender: Zach Fucale HAL 15 saves
Losing goaltender: Jason Rioux MON 1 save