Mooseheads lose to Moncton on home ice

Halifax continued the four-game homestand on Sunday, welcoming former Moosehead Markus Vidicek and the Moncton Wildcats.

The Herd entered Sunday’s action off of Friday’s win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies backstopped by Mathis Rousseau with a 48-save performance in the win.

It didn’t take long for Halifax to trail in this game. Moncton hit the scoresheet at the 1:38 mark to take the lead. Alex Mercier beat Rousseau off a turnover with an assist by Markus Vidicek.

The first period ended with Moncton’s lead backstopped by some great saves by goaltender Jacob Steinman. Braedon MacPhee and former teammate Dylan MacKinnon dropped the gloves five minutes into the first period. A flurry of rights was thrown by both MacPhee and MacKinnon, who were looking to swing momentum for their squads.

Logan Crosby tied it up for the Herd with 1:14 left in the 2nd period. Assisted by Kilfoil and Phillips, Crosby banked a pass meant for Sprynar off Etienne Morin and past Steinman to tie the game at one heading into the intermission.

Moncton broke the deadlock 10:25 into the final frame as 2023 1st overall pick Caleb Desnoyers beat Rousseau through a screen for his 11th of the season, giving Moncton a 2-1 lead. The Wildcats added Markus Vidicek, who scored against his former team, to their lead on the powerplay.

Etienne Morin sent the puck to Desnoyer, who found Vidicek to bury it. Moncton scored not one but two empty net goals, the first coming from Vincent Collard at 18:04 into the 3rd, the second coming just 6 seconds later from Alex Mercier. The game ended with a score of 5-1 for the Wildcats.

The Herd fell to 8-7-2 with the loss, while maritime division rival Moncton improved to 13-2-2.  Wildcats forward Caleb Desnoyers received 1st star honours, Alex Mercier claimed 2nd star, and Moosehead forward Liam Kilfoil earned 3rd. Halifax will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 9 as they take on the Baie-Comeau Drakkar at the Scotiabank Centre to continue the teams’ homestand.

The puck drops at 7 p.m., and you catch all of the action on 95.7 NewsRadio with Garreth MacDonald.