McLaren's 32 Saves Leads to Victory

Photo - Mooseheads Twitter

Moose win! It's been a while since anybody has been able to say that. Our Halifax Mooseheads put an end to their 9 game losing streak by defeating the 4th overall Rimouski Oceanic on Thursday night. Cole McLaren stopped all 32 shots for his first shutout of the season to lead the home team to a 1-0 victory. Projected first overall pick in the upcoming NHL entry draft Alexis Lafreniere and the Oceanic came into the game as heavy favourites with a 8-0-1-0 record before this evening but strong defensive performances by the team in the first 40 minutes and fantastic goaltending from McLaren were able to hold off the offensive power that is Rimouski. Kevin Gursoy got the Mooseheads on the board with five seconds remaining in the first period and that turned out to be the game winner. The was some questionable officiating during the game, especially when Ozzie King was high sticked on the nose and no call was made. In the second period, the away team thought they had scored to tie the game but McLaren was down, injured and the referee was in the process of whistling when Rimouski put it in the net so it was immediately waved off. Despite not getting on the scoresheet, whoever does the three stars gave the third star to former Herd Walter Flower as it was his last game in Halifax. 

FINAL: Oceanic 0 at Mooseheads 1

Stars: Walter Flower RIM | 2. Kevin Gursoy HAL | 1. Cole McLaren HAL

Attendance: 7,536

MC's Top Herd: Cole McLaren

Powerplay: RIM - 0-for-2; HAL - 0-for-3

Shots: 32-21 Rimouski

MISSING IN ACTION - Justin Barron (injured), Said Abi-Faycal (healthy), Alexis Gravel (injured), Denis Toner (sick) and Samuel Dube (injured)

SCORES

Sherbrooke 4 at Victoriaville 3

Quebec 4 at Baie-Comeau 2

UP NEXT - Halifax will continue their three game home stand with a match against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Saturday. Puck drops at 7pm.