Dec 14: Mooseheads vs. Wildcats preview

HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS VS MONCTON WILDCATS
December 14, 2018 at 7:00pm
TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @MC_MooseCountry
Scotiabank Centre (10,595) ~ Halifax, NS

It’s teddy bear toss night! When the Mooseheads score their first goal of the match, get those teddy bears flying. All bears collected with be given to Ronald McDonald House Charity and other local charities. Once again it is the battle of the top two teams in the Maritimes division. These clubs have been among the elite this season and will look to keep the momentum going into the new year. Moncton has fallen a bit of late and were not a part of the Top 10 teams in the Canadian Hockey League this week. However, that has given our favourite team an opportunity to stay really close behind the Wildcats especially since the Herd have been a hot team winning 5 straight games before a shootout loss on Wednesday. The Moose will be in tough though with Moncton seemingly icing a full lineup while Halifax are still without Jared McIsaac and Ostap Safin. The two young men are at their respective country's world juniors camp. After being released last night from Team Canada it is unknown if forward Raphael Lavoie will be in the lineup this evening. We should be in for a good game just days before the Christmas break.

This is the fourth meeting between these two teams. Halifax is 2-0-1-0 against the Wildcats this season while Moncton has a 1-1-1-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup saw Moncton pick up a 3-2 overtime win back on November 4th where Alex Khovanov scored the winner for the visitors.

Overall Records
Wildcats: 22-9-2-1 = 47pts (3rd overall, 1st in Maritimes division)
Mooseheads: 22-7-1-1 = 46pts (5th overall, 2nd in Maritimes division)

Leading Scorers
HAL: Samuel Asselin  40pts (22G & 18A), Benoit-Olivier Groulx 34pts (17G & 17A), Arnaud Durandeau 33pts (16G & 17A)
MON: Jeremy McKenna 57pts (25G & 32A), Jakob Pelletier 46pts (19G & 27A), Alexander Khovanov 43pts (19G & 24A)

Previous Games
Moncton is coming off a 5-4 shootout loss to the Islanders on Wednesday morning. Jeremy McKenna led the charge for the Wildcats with a hat trick while goaltender Charles-Antoine Lavallee made 18 saves in relief of Francis Leclerc in Charlottetown.

Halifax is coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to the Screaming Eagles on Wednesday evening. Samuel Asselin and Ben Higgins had the goals for the Mooseheads while Alexis Gravel made 17 saves against Cape Breton in the loss.

Head-to-Head
September 30  Mooseheads 4 at Wildcats 2
October 17  Mooseheads 5 at Wildcats 4 OT
November 4  Wildcats 3 at Mooseheads 2 OT
December 14  7pm  Wildcats at Mooseheads
January 19  7pm  Wildcats at Mooseheads
January 26  7pm  Mooseheads at Wildcats
February 2  7pm  Mooseheads at Wildcats
March 9  7pm  Mooseheads at Wildcats
March 13  7pm  Wildcats at Mooseheads

Out of Town
Saint John vs. Charlottetown - 7:00pm
Acadie-Bathurst vs. Cape Breton - 7:00pm
Sherbrooke vs. Rouyn-Noranda - 8:00pm
Quebec vs. Shawinigan - 8:00pm
Chicoutimi vs. Victoriaville - 8:30pm
Drummondville vs. Val-D'or - 8:30pm
Gatineau vs. Blainville-Boisbriand - 8:30pm
Rimouski vs. Baie-Comeau - 8:30pm

After the Buzzer
Halifax will welcome the Charlottetown Islanders to town to finish off the first half of the season. Puck drops at 7pm.