Mooseheads on the brink after narrow defeat
2023-05-18
The Mooseheads felt like they had a win stolen from them on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Centre in a 2-1 loss to the Quebec Remparts who are now just one win away from being crowned the QMJHL Champions.
The battered Herd put in a valiant effort and fought tooth and nail to try and come away with a win on home ice but saw some crucial calls go in favour of the opposition in the defeat, including a disallowed Markus Vidicek goal 8:57 into the second period when a review by the officials decided that the puck was gloved ahead and then touched by a Halifax stick. The 18-year-old forward was already nursing a bloody mouth from a cross check to his face that went unnoticed behind the play earlier in the game. The goal would have tied the game 1-1 after Quebec jumped out to a 1-0 lead during a one-sided first period that saw goalie Mathis Rousseau make 19 saves while the Remparts outshot the Moose 20-6 in the opening 20 minutes of action.
Click to view a replay of the disallowed goal.
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Halifax was playing the game without key veterans Zach L’Heureux and David Moravec who were injured in the previous game. Captain Attilio Biasca joined the list of wounded when he left Game 4 with an upper body injury and did not return. The Swiss import took a hard hit along the boards in front of the bench and appeared to hurt his shoulder. He was being re-evaluated and his status for Game 5 is unknown. Moravec and L’Heureux are both listed as day-to-day with upper body injuries.
With the Remparts leading 1-0 and the 10,595 in attendance craving a chance to voice their support, Vidicek banged in a puck from the side of the crease and the building was instantly booming. The mood changed to displeasure moments later when the call was reversed and the Herd were once again looking to get on the board. Overage forward Evan Boucher stepped up to seize the moment nearly three minutes later when he dragged the puck around a defender and fired a hard wrist shot to light the lamp at the 11:53 mark of the second period and Halifax had pulled even 1-1. The Rousseau’s basically closed the door from that point on with goalies William and Mathis combining for 56 saves on 59 shots in the game.
Quebec’s winner came just seconds after a non-call on a slash across Jordan Dumais’ wrist had the fans in an uproar. The QMJHL MVP had the puck deep in the Remparts zone with 6:56 remaining in regulation and lost the puck as Theo Rochette came up and under his hands with a slash on the wrists. Quebec picked up the puck and came down on a three-on-two rush and Zach Bolduc cashed in the deciding tally.
Halifax dropped both home games by just one goal each time, losing in overtime on Tuesday before the slim margin of defeat on Wednesday.
The win gave the Remparts a three-games-to-one advantage in the Gilles Courteau Trophy Finals, with a chance to wrap up the series on their home ice at Videotron Centre on Friday night in Quebec City. If the Mooseheads can grab a win on Friday, they would force a Game 6 back at Scotiabank Centre on Sunday at 5pm. Game 7, if necessary, would be played Monday night in Quebec.
