Dec 28: Islanders vs. Mooseheads preview

CHARLOTTETOWN ISLANDERS VS HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS
December 28, 2018 at 7:00pm
TV: Eastlink | Radio: News 95.7 | Live: @HFXMooseheads
Eastlink Centre (3,717) ~ Charlottetown, PEI

Christmas break is over meaning that hockey is back. Your Halifax Mooseheads start the second half of the season tonight when they head to Charlottetown to take on the Islanders. The Mooseheads are on top of the Maritimes division with 50 points after going 7-0-0-1 before the break and are one of the hottest teams lately. Cam Russell and the brass have made a couple of moves so far during the winter trade period, picking up two forwards. Maxim Trepanier, who the Herd acquired from Gatineau yesterday, will make his debut tonight while Halifax brought in Keith Getson, who will play his former team this evening after being traded by Charlottetown a couple days before Christmas. It looks like the Islanders are in rebuilding mode after trading 3 of their top 5 scorers, which included shipping captain Pierre-Olivier Joseph to Drummondville on Thursday. Will the new guys have a big impact on today's match? Head coach Eric Veilleux and the Moose Country faithful sure hopes so.

This is the sixth game this season between these two teams. Halifax is 5-0-0-0 against the Islanders while Charlottetown has a 0-4-1-0 record versus the Mooseheads. The last matchup was December 15, the last game before the break, in Halifax where the Herd cruised to a 6-2 victory. Jordan Maher, who was traded a few days ago, had two goals to lead the home team while Alex Gravel made 30 saves for the win.

Overall Records
Mooseheads: 24-7-1-1 = 50pts (3rd overall, 1st in Maritimes division)
Islanders: 20-10-2-1 = 43pts (8th overall, 4th in Maritimes division)

Leading Scorers
CHA: Daniel Hardie 39pts (22G & 17A), Nikita Alexandrov 29pts (14G & 15A), Kevin Gursoy 22pts (6G & 16A)
HAL: Samuel Asselin 42pts (24G & 18A), Benoit-Olivier Groulx 35pts (18G & 17A), Arnaud Durandeau 34pts (17G & 17A)

Previous Games
See above.

Head-to-Head
September 22  Mooseheads 3 at Islanders 2
October 11  Mooseheads 8 at Islanders 2
November 20  Islanders 3 at Mooseheads 4 OT
December 9  Mooseheads 2 at Islanders 1
December 15  Islanders 2 at Mooseheads 6
December 28  7:30pm  Mooseheads at Islanders
February 6  7pm  Islanders at Mooseheads
February 16  4:30pm  Islanders at Mooseheads
March 16  4:30pm  Islanders at Mooseheads

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

After the Buzzer
Halifax will head to Sydney to take on the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles on Saturday in the first game of the Hurley Cup. Puck drops at 2pm.