GAMEDAY #36: vs. Charlottetown

GAMEDAY
HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS CHARLOTTETOWN ISLANDERS
Puck drops at 7:00pm
TV: Webcast | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

Welcome back boys. The Halifax Mooseheads are back after their holiday break and are looking to start the second half of the season off right. It's a battle of two teams who are in the midst of good runs with Halifax winning 3 straight and Charlottetown picking up points in their last three games, going 2-0-1. The first 17 games of the second half will be important for the Herd as they are all against Maritime clubs and the team will be trying to stay on top of the division. Halifax will be without leading scorer Filip Zadina who is in Buffalo participating in the World Juniors but that just gives other guys a chance to step up and produce. Charlottetown was I think one of the biggest surprises in the first half of the season, the Islanders are 3rd in the Maritimes division and have 20 wins in 33 games. Going into 2017-18 many felt like the Islanders would be near the bottom of standings after losing about half of their team from last season, however they have had strong goaltending and defence leading them to a pretty good record.

This is fifth game this season between these two teams. Halifax is 3-0-1-0 against the Islanders while Charlottetown has a 1-3-0-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was November 24 on the island where the Isles won 3-2 in overtime. Otto Somppi and Maxime Fortier each had a goal and an assist to lead the Herd while Alexis Gravel made 31 saves to take the loss.

OVERALL RECORDS
Islanders: 20-11-2-0 = 42 points (3rd in Maritimes division, 9th overall)
Mooseheads: 21-9-4-1 = 47 points (1st in Maritimes division, 3rd overall)

LEADING SCORERS
HAL: Filip Zadina 46pts (24G & 22A), Maxime Fortier 41pts (18G & 23A), Otto Somppi 36pts (11G & 25A)
CHA: Keith Getson 26pts (12G & 14A), Matthew Grouchy 24pts (11G & 13A), Pierre-Olivier Joseph 24pts (4G & 20A)

PREVIOUS GAMES
Charlottetown is coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to Saint John on December 16. The Islanders were led by d-man Pierre-Olivier Joseph who had a goal and an assist on the road and despite outshooting the Sea Dogs 58-28, they couldn't get the victory.

Halifax is coming off a 4-2 home win on December 16 against the Screaming Eagles. Xavier Parent had a goal and an assist while Max Fortier had 2 helpers to lead the Mooseheads. Alexis Gravel made his third straight start and stopped 27 of Cape Breton's 29 shots to take the win.

MISSING IN ACTION - Filip Zadina (world juniors)

HEAD-TO-HEAD
September 23  Halifax 3 at Charlottetown 2
October 1  Charlottetown 0 at Halifax 3
October 29  Charlottetown 2 at Halifax 6
November 24  Halifax 2 at Charlottetown 3 OT
December 28  Charlottetown at Halifax - 7pm
January 11  Charlottetown at Halifax - 7pm
January 12  Halifax at Charlottetown - 7pm
February 6  Halifax at Charlottetown - 7pm
February 21  Halifax at Charlottetown - 7pm

OUT OF TOWN
Titan vs. Wildcats     7:00pm
Sea Dogs vs. Screaming Eagles     7:00pm
Huskies vs. Armada     8:00pm
Cataractes vs. Oceanic     8:00pm
Tigres vs. Remparts     8:00pm
Drakkar vs. Sagueneens     8:30pm
Olympiques vs. Voltigeurs     8:30pm
Foreurs vs. Phoenix     8:30pm

AFTER THE BUZZER
Halifax will welcome the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Saturday for the annual Battle of Nova Scotia game. Puck drops at 2pm.