2018-10-26

The Halifax Mooseheads are heading home with plenty to be happy about. BO Groulx scored twice in the third period on Friday night in Cape Breton to give the Herd a 4-3 comeback win over the Screaming Eagles to put an exclamation point on the end of a 15-game season opening road trip.

BOX SCORE

“We are proud of the character and resilience shown by our players during the ups and downs playing in 15 consecutive road games,” General Manager Cam Russell said.

There were definitely more ups than downs on the trip for the Mooseheads who will enter Saturday’s home opener with a 12-3 record after taking 24 out of a possible 30 points on the road. The hot start has the club sitting in first place in the Eastern Conference and improved Halifax’s perfect record over Maritimes Division opponents to 9-0.

“I mean, it feels awesome. The guys battled through a lot during those 15 games and it’s very rewarding for us getting those points,” Groulx said as the team boarded the bus to leave Centre 200 in Sydney.

Friday night’s victory was another test of character for the 2019 Memorial Cup hosts and they came through again with Groulx scoring clutch goals less than three minutes apart early in the third period. Head Coach Eric Veilleux did a little line juggling to start the final period and it paid off as he put 20-year-old Samuel Asselin up with Groulx and Jordan Maher.

“For sure it helped. We needed a little boost from every line and that’s what we ended up getting,” Groulx said.

The Mooseheads opened the scoring in the game when Cole Stewart notched his first career goal 6:18 into the first period. Stewart took a centering pass from Brock McLeod and beat goalie Kevin Mandolese with a quick shot. Cape Breton soon came back to tie the game 1-1 with Egor Sokolov scoring his league-leading 12th goal of the season from the slot. First star Samuel Asselin quieted the crowd on Pink in the Rink night in Sydney when he stole the puck and scored on a short handed breakaway with some excellent moves to put the Mooseheads back in front 2-1. The Eagles fought back to tie it 2-2 by scoring against the QMJHL’s best penalty killing unit. With Xavier Parent in the box for holding, Declan Smith tallied the equalizer on the power play and Leon Gawanke had the 2,869 fans hopping when he put the home team in front 3-2 just 68 seconds later.

As has been the case throughout the road trip, the Mooseheads didn’t show any signs of panic. They kept to the game-plan and found a way to get back in it. Groulx tied the game 3:37 into the final period when he knocked in a rebound following a hard shot from Jordan Maher. He found the back of the net with the game-winner at the 6:21 mark and the Herd held on the rest of the way.

Asselin finished with one goal and two assists and was named the first star. Declan Smith’s goal for the Screaming Eagles earned him the second star and Groulx was named the third star for his efforts. Final shots on goal were 29-25 Cape Breton as Alex Gravel made 26 saves to pick up his league leading 9th victory.

The teams will face off in a rematch on Saturday night in the Mooseheads’ home opener at 7pm. Get your tickets now at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office, select Superstore outlets, TicketAtlantic.com, the Official Mooseheads Shop in Scotia Square Mall or by phone 902-451-1221.

Groulx couldn’t emphasize enough how much he and his teammates are looking forward to hearing the welcome from their fans at Scotiabank Centre on Saturday night.

“The boys can’t wait to play in front of our fans! It’s going to be awesome.”

Fans should take note that the MacDonald Bridge will be closed on Saturday, so it will be important to leave earlier than usual in order to get to your seats on time. Doors open at 6:00pm and warm-up begins at 6:30pm.