2019-04-03

The second round of the QMJHL President Cup Playoffs will be another tough test for the Halifax Mooseheads as they get set to face off with the rival Moncton Wildcats in Game 1 on Friday night at Scotiabank Centre at 7pm. Given the close proximity of the teams, the series will be a 2-2-1-1-1 format with Halifax holding home ice advantage.

Individual tickets go on sale for the General Public on Thursday morning at 11am at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office, TicketAtlantic.com, select Superstore Outlets, the Official Mooseheads Shop in Scotia Square or by calling 902-451-1221. Round 2 Packs are already on sale through Ticket Atlantic for Season Ticket members and 15-Game Pack holders.

The Mooseheads are the top seed in the Eastern Conference and advanced to Round 2 with a Game 7 win over Quebec on Tuesday night. The Wildcats are the seventh seed and pulled off a series upset of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar with a Game 7 victory of their own on Tuesday evening.

While the season series was overwhelmingly in Halifax’s favour with a 7-1-1 record, only one game was decided by more than two goals and two contests needed overtime. The Moose were 3-0-1 on home ice against the Cats and 4-1 at the Avenir Centre.

PLAYOFF HISTORY

There have been four previous playoff meetings between the regional rivals with split results. Moncton came back from an 0-2 series deficit to win in seven games in 2015 in the second round. The Mooseheads swept the Wildcats in four games in the first round of the 2012 postseason. Perhaps the most memorable battle was the first round, seven game victory by the Herd in 2007 when Ben MacAskill was the hero in double overtime of Game 7 at the Moncton Coliseum. The first ever playoff battle came in 2006 with the Wildcats dumping the Moose in five games in the second round.

INJURIES/SUSPENSIONS

Both teams are currently without key players due to injury. Benoit-Olivier Groulx remains out indefinitely with mononucleosis for Halifax while Moncton lost defensive rookie of the year Jordan Spence to a lower body injury early in the first round. Forward Jacob Hudson also remains out with an injury for the Cats. Moncton defenceman Aleksi Anttalainen has one more game remaining on a three-game suspension for boarding.

TEAM LEADERS

Raphael Lavoie is tied for the QMJHL lead in playoff points with 13 and is tops in goals with seven. Arnaud Durandeau and Maxim Trepanier have six points each while there are five Mooseheads players tied with five points.

Jeremy McKenna has picked up where he left off in the regular season in terms of being a regular producer. He leads the Wildcats with 11 points. Mika Cyr had an excellent first round series with 10 points and netted the game-winning goal in Game 7. Alexander Khovanov has chipped in with seven points and Gabriel Sylvestre has five assists.

GOALTENDING

Alex Gravel was instrumental in helping the Mooseheads win the final two games of their series vs Quebec to eliminate the Remparts. He allowed only two goals on the final 51 shots he faced and finished the series with a 2.72 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.

Francis Leclerc appeared in all seven games for the Wildcats and currently has the best save percentage in the QMJHL playoffs at .932% to go along with a 2.54 goals against average. He saw plenty of rubber with 249 shots against compared to 195 for Gravel. Leclerc didn’t fare so well against Halifax in last season’s playoffs when he played for the Drakkar and posted a 4.50 goals against average and an .858 save percentage as the Herd took the series in five games.

SCHEDULE

All games are scheduled for 7pm starts except for Sunday, April 14th which is set for 4pm.