Huskies Handle the Herd 5-1
2021-11-19
A win wasn’t in the cards for the Mooseheads on Friday night in Rouyn-Noranda in a game that the Huskies had complete control of from start to finish while skating to a 5-1 defeat of Halifax.
For the second consecutive night, the Moose gave up an opening minute goal to quickly fall behind the hometown Huskies at Arena Glencore. Alex Arsenault jumped on a rebound created on a drive to the net by Mathieu Gagnon after the Herd failed to clear the zone and Rouyn-Noranda had a 1-0 advantage just 41 seconds into the game.
It was another Arsenault, this time Donovan, that struck for the Huskies again at the 5:01 mark for a 2-0 lead. The forward from Richmond, PE knocked in a puck at the side of the net after a point shot from Thomas Belzile to put the Mooseheads in a hole that they wouldn’t be able to climb out of.
The tempo of the game is always different in Rouyn-Noranda, where the ice surface is 10 feet shorter than normal and the boards are lively. The Huskies fired plenty of rubber at goalie Mathis Rousseau who faced 45 shots in the game. The rookie let in a third goal in the first period when defenceman Jared Cosman’s point shot through heavy traffic beat the screened Rousseau.
With Rouyn leading 3-0, big Czech import forward Jakub Hujer netted his fourth career goal and the home team was really rolling at 4-0 just 1:48 into the second period. Despite finishing with 36 shots on goal, the only offense the Mooseheads could muster came off the stick of one of the hottest player’s in the league as Jordan Dumais broke the shutout bid for goalie Samuel Richard late in the middle period. Dumais picked up his 28th point of the season and ninth point in the last five games when he lit the lamp courtesy of assist by Bobby Orr and Elliot Desnoyers.
Make it 9 points in 5 games for Jordan.
🚨Dumais (8) 15:33 2nd period
🍎Orr, Desnoyers | #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/5mZgho1Bdk— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) November 20, 2021
The Huskies collected their third early period goal of the game in the final stanza when Dyllan Gill scored on a power play at the 28 second mark with Moose defenceman Cam Whynot in the box for head-butting. That wrapped up the scoring for a 5-1 final.
Mooseheads rookie Mathieu Cataford suffered a charlie horse during the game and wasn’t seen on the ice much after the first period, leaving Halifax with just 10 forwards after the team dressed seven defencemen and 11 forwards in the matchup. 20-year-old forward Zac Beauregard served a one-game suspension for an accumulation of fighting majors, Zach L’Heureux sat out as he served game three of a four-game suspension and Logan Crosby was a healthy scratch.
The Quebec road trip will finish for Halifax on Sunday afternoon at 4pm ADT in Gatineau versus the Olympiques as the Mooseheads play their first game at the new Slush Puppy Centre.
The next home games for the Moose are set for Friday, November 26th at 7pm at Scotiabank Centre in a rematch vs Rouyn-Noranda. The Mooseheads will also face Blainville-Boisbriand on Saturday, November 27th at 7pm for 90’s Night and the team will be wearing throwback Halifax Citadels jerseys for the promotional night. Tickets are on sale now at TicketAtlantic.com.
