Moose rout Remparts 11-2
Moose rout Remparts 11-2
By Willy Palov Sports Reporter
The Chronicle Herald
What was supposed to be a clash of QMJHL powers turned into a one-sided show of force Friday night in Quebec City.
The Halifax Mooseheads crushed the Quebec Remparts 11-2 in front of 13,391 stunned fans at the Quebec Colisee.
“We had control and it was great to see the way we moved the puck and the way we were involved,” said Halifax head coach Dominique Ducharme. “It was great to watch how much the puck carrier had options and from there it just flowed.”
After an epic seven-game second-round playoff series last year, there were high expectations for the game. But the Mooseheads easily built a 6-0 lead by the middle of the second period and then cruised to the rout.
Former Remparts draft pick Dominic Beauchemin, Stephen MacAulay and Konrad Abeltshauser each had two goals and an assist, while Marty Frk, Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin, Ryan Falkenham and Darcy Ashley scored one goal each. Drouin also had three assists to give him four points and MacKenzie Weegar finished with four assists. Logan Shaw and Nick Sorensen scored Quebec’s goals.
Halifax’s Zachary Fucale and Chris Clarke teamed up to make 17 saves to earn the win and Francois Brassard and Gabriel Parent combined to stop 38 shots for Quebec. Brassard got the start and allowed eight goals on 33 shots before turning over the net to Parent at the 2:16 mark of the third period. Clarke relieved Fucale late in the third period after the score had gotten out of hand.
“(Fucale) got bumped a few minutes before that and at the same time we wanted to get Clarkie a few minutes,” Ducharme said. “It’s a long weekend for us.”
With his three points, Abeltshauser moved past Jasmin Gelinas as the all-time leading scorer among Mooseheads defencemen. He has 131 career points.
“That’s really nice for him,” Ducharme said. “He’s been playing so well for us. He deserves it. He’s a committed kid and a great kid. He’s dominant on the ice so to see him set that team record is great.”
The only sour note of the night was an injury to Halifax winger Andrew Ryan. He left the game in the first period favouring his leg and will not play in the Mooseheads’ next two games. They continue their three-game road trip through Quebec with an afternoon game today against the Sherbrooke Phoenix.
The win is the Mooseheads’ fourth in a row and pads their lead in first place overall. They now sit at 36-4-2-1. The Remparts (25-16-1-2) have now lost five straight and are in seventh place.
