HALIFAX, N.S. - The Halifax Mooseheads took advantage of their special teams, scoring three times on the power play, in a 6-3 win over the Charlottetown Islanders Friday night in Game 1 of the first round of the QMJHL playoffs.
With the win, Halifax takes a 1-0 lead in the series and will look to double the series lead tomorrow night in Game 2.
Danny Moynihan scored a pair for the Mooseheads as Nikolaj Ehlers (1-1), Jonathan Drouin (1-2), Luca Ciampini (1-2) and Andrew Shewfelt (1-1) tallied singles for Halifax. The Islanders had goals from Daniel Sprong (1-1), Alexandre Goulet (1-1) and Anthony Cortese (1-1). Troy Vance chipped in with two assists.
The first period almost ended scoreless before Ehlers scored his first of the playoffs at 18:17 on the power play. MacKenzie Weegar and Jonathan Drouin drew assists. Shots were 12-7 in favour of Halifax.
The Islanders were scoreless on four opportunities including a four-minute power play and a two-man advantage. The Mooseheads actually had the majority of the chances while short-handed but could not covert. Drouin had two breakaways but couldn’t get the puck past Islanders goalie Mason McDonald.
In the second period, Ciampini increased the Mooseheads lead to 2-0 with a power play goal at 1:18 with Drouin and Matt Murphy drawing assists. Moments later, Sprong cut the lead in half for the Islanders at 2:04 with his first of the playoffs. McDonald and Goulet drew assists. The Islanders tied the game with a power play goal of their own from Goulet at 11:53. Cortese and Vance drew assists. The Mooseheads regained their lead with Moynihan scoring his first of the playoffs at 13:51 with Shewfelt and Ciampini drawing assists. Drouin then made it a 4-2 game just 2:01 later with Weegar and Ehlers drawing assists. Mooseheads held a 25-15 shot advantage after 40 minutes.
Halifax made it a 5-2 game at the 7:20 mark of the third period with a power play goal from Shewfelt. Jesse Lussier drew the lone assist. The Islanders made it a 5-3 game at 15:15 with a power play marker from Cortese. Vance and Sprong drew assists. Just 17 seconds later, Moynihan added his second of the game to give the Mooseheads a commanding 6-3 lead with Ciampini and Murphy assisting. Mooseheads outshot the Islanders 26-3 in the third period.
Zachary Fucale made 15 saves in the win for Halifax. McDonald made 45 saves in the losing net for Charlottetown.
Halifax went three-for-six on the power play, while Charlottetown went two-for-seven on the man advantage.
As mentioned earlier, Game 2 goes tomorrow night in Halifax at 7 p.m. Stayed tuned to Islanders Country for the pre-game recap.
Three stars:
3 - Daniel Sprong, Charlottetown
2 - Danny Moynihan, Halifax
1 - Jonathan Drouin, Halifax
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