Walters leads Mooseheads past Eagles 5-2

The Halifax Mooseheads were on the road Friday night for the latest edition of the battle of Nova Scotia, defeating the Cape Breton Eagles 5-2 at Centre 200.

The Mooseheads struck first at 3:36 of the opening period when Cameron Minella recovered the puck along the boards and threw it toward the Cape Breton net. The puck squeezed past Félix Hamel for Minella’s third goal as a member of the Herd. Halifax extended the lead at 5:44 as Daniel Walters took a pass from Quinn Kennedy behind the Eagles net and fired it past Hamel.

Former Moosehead Reece Peitzsche got Cape Breton on the board at 11:39, sniping a shot past the glove of Owen Bresson. Halifax restored its two-goal lead when captain Owen Philips blasted a shot home after a setup from Malik L’Italien. The Eagles responded quickly, however, as Maxime Sauthier chipped a shot over Bresson just 17 seconds later to cut the Halifax lead to one.

After a scoreless second period, Walters added his second goal of the night at 3:59 of the third, firing a drop pass from Caylen Blake past Hamel. Cape Breton pulled its goaltender at 16:39, and Shawn Carrier sealed the win with an empty-net goal, his 28th of the season, late in the period.

With the win, Halifax improves to 22-21-3-2 on the season.

Walters was named the first star with two goals and an assist. Sauthier earned second-star honours for Cape Breton, while Bresson was the third star after making 35 saves.

The Mooseheads are back in action Saturday, Feb. 7, returning home for the second game of the weekend series against the Eagles as the Herd looks to extend its lead in the season series.

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. Live coverage can be heard on 95.7 NewsRadio, with Garreth MacDonald hosting the pregame show beginning at 6:30 p.m.