GAMEDAY #14: vs. Acadie-Bathurst

GAME PREVIEW
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS ACADIE-BATHURST TITAN
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

Your Halifax Mooseheads will have a little different look tonight when they host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for some Wednesday night hockey. Rookies Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Jared McIsaac will miss the next 6 games as they are in Sault Ste. Marie for the U17 World Hockey Challenge and it's also been reported that Brett Crossley could be in the lineup after missing a few games with an injury. After a couple of losses on home ice, it's possible that lines might be changed as well. This will be the Mooseheads second Wednesday evening game of the season after visiting Bathurst two weeks ago (more on that below). Halifax will be looking to get back in the win column at home after losing to the 3rd CHL ranked Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and a comeback victory by the Val-d'Or Foreurs over the weekend. They'll have to play a full 60 minutes and get some strong goaltending to defeat the Titan who have won three in a row. Acadie-Bathurst will be without rookie defenenceman Noah Dobson who is also at the U17 Hockey Challenge.

This is the second meeting between the two teams this season. Halifax is 0-1-0-0 against the Titan this year while Acadie-Bathurst has a 1-0-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The two teams met 2 weeks ago on October 12 in Bathurst where the home team won 3-0 on the back of Reilly Pickard who made 26 saves. Samuel L'Italien scored twice for the Titan while Alexis Gravel made 32 saves for the Herd in the loss.

OVERALL RECORDS
Titan:7-4-1-1 = 16 points (2nd in Maritimes division, 6th overall)
Mooseheads: 6-7-0-0 = 12 points (5th in Maritimes division, 13th overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Maxime Fortier 17pts (8G & 9A), Nico Hischier 13pts (5G & 8A), Connor Moynihan 9pts (7G & 2A)
BAT: Christophe Boivin 18pts (8G & 10A), Antoine Morand 15pts (5G & 10A), Jeffrey Truchon-Viel 10pts (5G & 5A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Acadie-Bathurst is coming off a 5-3 victory at the KC Irving Regional Centre over the Huskies. Jeffrey Truchon-Viel had two goals and an assist on Sunday afternoon to lead the Titan while Reilly Pickard stopped 28 of Rouyn-Noranda's 31 shots.

Halifax is coming off a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Val-d'Or on home ice on Sunday. Ben Higgins and Max Fortier scored for the Mooseheads who had a 2-0 lead after the first period, while Alexis Gravel made 16 saves against the Foreurs to pick up the loss.

ALUM ON TITAN - none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
October 12  Mooseheads 0 at Titan 3
October 26  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
November 20  Titan at Mooseheads – 2pm
November 22  Mooseheads at Titan – 7pm
December 14  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
February 2  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
February 17  Mooseheads at Titan – 7pm
February 24  Titan at Mooseheads – 7pm
March 10  Mooseheads at Titan – 7pm

OUT OF TOWN
Screaming Eagles vs. Wildcats   7:00pm
Sea Dogs vs. Islanders   7:00pm
Armada vs. Voltigeurs   8:00pm
Foreurs vs. Tigres   8:30pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will finish the month with a home and home series against their provinicial rivals this weekend, starting with a visit to Sydney on Friday night. Puck drops at 7pm.