Mooseheads defeat Phoenix 4-2 to wrap up road swing in Quebec

The Halifax Mooseheads wrapped up their weekend Quebec road trip with a win on Sunday, defeating the Sherbrooke Phoenix for the second time in five games.

Sherbrooke opened the scoring at the 7:10 mark of the first period when Brogan McNeil beat Nick Cirka. There was a moment of concern at 16:04 as Phoenix forward Jayden Plouffe made knee-on-knee contact with Mooseheads captain Owen Philips. Philips recovered quickly, while Plouffe was assessed a two-minute roughing penalty.

On the ensuing power play, Shawn Carrier stole the puck from a Sherbrooke forward, drove the net and knocked his 27th goal of the season past Kyan Labbe. The goal was briefly reviewed, but the call on the ice stood.

Halifax pulled ahead at 2:55 of the second period when Quinn Kennedy fired a shot from the right faceoff circle. Labbe made the initial save, but Kennedy buried his own rebound. Sherbrooke tied the game at 11:12 on a goal from Cameron Haye, but Oleg Kulebiakin restored the Mooseheads’ lead at 19:01, taking a pass from Carrier and tucking a backhand shot into the net.

Sherbrooke pulled its goaltender at 18:08 of the third period, and Halifax capitalized. Samuel Rousseau scored the insurance goal, sealing a 4-2 Mooseheads victory.

With the win, Halifax improves its record to 21-20-3-2 on the season.

Carrier was named the first star with a goal and an assist. Kennedy earned second star honours with a goal and an assist, while Sherbrooke’s Haye was the third star, also recording a goal and an assist.

The Mooseheads return to the Scotiabank Centre on Wednesday, Feb. 4, to host the Newfoundland Regiment.

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.