Mooseheads dominate Saguenéens in first meet of the season

On Friday, The Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in the team’s first meeting of the season with a final score of 5-1 from the Scotiabank Centre.

Will Bent opened the scoring for the Herd 4:38 into the first period with his first career QMJHL goal after Callum Aucoin backhanded a pass to find Bent on the breakaway. Bent sent his shot over the blocker of Raphaël Précourt and into the Sags net to give Halifax the early lead.

The Moose continued to sustain pressure in the opening frame as Caylen Blake slipped a backhand shot past Précourt and the goal post on the left-wing corner, increasing the Herd’s early lead. Blake added another goal on the breakaway, slipping it through the five-hole of Précourt after a tape-to-tape pass from Braeden MacPhee to end the first period with a commanding 3-0 lead.

At the start of the second period, the Saguenéens made a goaltending change, switching out Précourt for Jacob Brochu.

There was concern on the Mooseheads bench as Carlos Handel went down early in the second period after being clipped by Saguenéens Centre Thomas Desruisseaux, but no penalty was called on the play. Carlos Handel left the ice with assistance and returned in the period.

Shawn Carrier fired a laser from the right-wing faceoff circle past Brochu on the man advantage off a cross-ice pass from Amelio Santini only 3:14 into the second period.

More concern later in the period as Amelio Santini took a puck up high about seven minutes into the period and left down the Mooseheads tunnel under his own power but did not return.

Mooseheads captain Brady Schultz had the lone marker in the third period, firing a shot from the point on the powerplay, deflecting into the Chicoutimi net with three minutes remaining in the game. Chicoutimi spoiled Jacob Steinman’s shutout bid as Christophe Berthelot scored with only 34 seconds remaining.

With the win, Halifax improves to 15-23-6 while the Saguenéens fall to 24-11-9.

Halifax swept the three stars, with Jacob Steinman receiving the first star after a 26-save performance, Caylen Blake earning the second star with two goals, and Will Bent earning the third star after scoring his first in the Q.

Action returns to the Scotiabank Centre on Sunday, Jan. 26, as the Saint John Sea Dogs make the journey to Halifax. The Herd looks to end off its successful home stand on a win. Puck drop is at 3 p.m., and you can catch all the action on 95.7 NewsRadio with Garreth MacDonald.