Late goal lifts Tigres past Mooseheads 3-2

CITYnews halifax / By Coulson Ward

The Halifax Mooseheads’ third Quebec road trip of the season continued Saturday evening as they faced the Victoriaville Tigres for the second time this season. In the teams’ first matchup, the Mooseheads claimed a 4-2 victory after a strong night in goal from Owen Bresson and a two-point effort from Liam Kilfoil on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

Halifax struck first when Samuel Rousseau received the puck from Shawn Carrier behind the Victoriaville net before deking around netminder Gabriel D’Aigle and sliding a backhand shot into the goal at 14:11 of the first period. The lead did not last long, as Loïk Gariépy tied the contest for the Tigres at 16:51 with his 10th goal of the season.

Rousseau restored the Mooseheads’ lead on the power play at 4:53 of the second period, deflecting a high shot from Carrier into the Tigres net. The goal was subject to a brief review but was upheld after officials ruled there was no high stick. Victoriaville tied the game again at 8:36 when Brayden Besner drove hard from the left wing before finding Egor Shilov, who fired his 23rd of the season into the Halifax net.

The Mooseheads received a 5-on-3 power-play opportunity at 13:09 following a roughing call against Simon-Pier Brunet and a slashing penalty to Alexey Vlasov, but a strong penalty kill by the Tigres kept the contest even heading into the third period.

Brunet gave Victoriaville its first lead of the game at 12:19 of the third period. Halifax pulled Bresson for an extra attacker at 18:04 but could not convert, as the Tigres held on for a 3-2 victory.

With the loss, the Mooseheads fall to 20-20-3-2 on the season.

Brunet was named the game’s first star after scoring the winning goal. D’Aigle earned second star honours with a 34-save performance, while Rousseau was named third star for Halifax.

The Mooseheads return to action Sunday, Feb. 1, for the final game of their Quebec road trip against the Sherbrooke Phoenix at the Palais des Sports Léopold-Drolet.

Puck drop is set for 4 p.m. You can hear all the action live on 95.7 NewsRadio with Garreth MacDonald.