First Place in Division

Photo - Myles Dennis

At least for a couple of days. In a game that would determine who would sit atop the Maritimes division until Thursday evening, Halifax came out on top with a gritty 6-5 victory over the Moncton Wildcats. Both teams went into tonight's match with 29 points, which also is how many the Acadie-Bathurst Titan have too. With the win, the Mooseheads now have 31 points and sit alone as first in the division, while the Wildcats and Titan will play against each other on Thursday. Now on to the game. These two teams don't like each other and you could tell it was going to be a rough one when Jordan Lepage and Brady Pataki dropped the gloves just 20 seconds into the 1st period. Moncton received a penalty shortly after giving Halifax a man advantage which Otto Somppi capitalized on, sending the Moose Country faithful cheering. After 20 minutes the game was tied as Jeremy McKenna scored his 14th of the year. The Wildcats had their first power play of the game in the middle frame and scored to tie the game at 2 goals a piece. Through the first 21 games of the season, Halifax had one of the best penalty kill percentage in the league however in the last three matches the team has gone 8-for-16. Before the second period ended, the Mooseheads put two more in to lead 4-2 after 40 minutes. During the third period goaltender Blade Mann-Dixon held his team in the game as Moncton poured it on trying to get the victory, stopping 18 of 21 shots.

FINAL: Wildcats 5 at Mooseheads 6
Stars: 3. Maxime Fortier HAL | 2. Jeremy McKenna MON | 1. Arnaud Durandeau HAL
Attendance: 5,060
MC's Top Herd: Arnaud Durandeau

GAME LOG
First period
2:48 HAL Otto Somppi (7), PP | A: Chainey & Parent
18:32 MON Jeremy McKenna (14) | A: Pelletier & Arsenault

Second period
6:12 HAL Arnaud Durandeau (6) | A: Bishop & Mann-DIxon
9:57 MON Mike Cyr (15), PP | A: Pelletier & Welsh
11:06 HAL Filip Zadina (18), PP | A: Fortier & McIsaac
15:39 HAL Benoit-Olivier Groulx (13) | A: Fortier & Moynihan

Third period
0:55 MON Jacob Hudson (4), SH | A: None
2:46 HAL Xavier Parent (5) | A: Durandeau & Chainey
4:45 MON Jonathan Aspirot (5), PP | A: McKenna
4:51 HAL Joel Bishop (4) | A: Durandeau
13:58 MON Julien Tessier (6), PP | A: None

Powerplay: MON - 3-for-5, HAL - 2-for-5
Shots: 38-24 in favour of Moncton

NOT DRESSED - Cooper Jones, Ryan Barbosa & Barrett Dachyshyn were healthy scratches

SCORES
Victoriaville 2 at Rouyn-Noranda 3 SO

UP NEXT - Halifax will now go on the road for a Maritime division 3 games in 3 nights trip starting with a match against the Charlottetown Islanders on Friday. Puck drops at 7pm.