Photo Credit: David St. Louis/Moncton Wildcats
Attilio Biasca played the role of the hero, scoring the game winning goal versus the Wildcats with 1:38 remaining in a 6-4 win in Moncton on Sunday afternoon.
Four Mooseheads logged multi-point games on the afternoon, including a hat trick from Alexandre Doucet which helped him top 50 goals on the season and 100 points. Both milestones mark the first time Doucet has topped those marks in his career.
Halifax got the ball rolling early with a quick shot from Doucet around the top of the faceoff circle just 2:25 into the contest.
Jordan Dumais quickly added to the lead just 3:09 later on a turnover that created a two-on-one opportunity where the captain Biasca found his stick past the defender for a tap in marker for Dumais.
Moncton finally solved Mathis Rousseau late in the first period on an awkward shot from Charles Beaudoin, which bounced off the end boards from a point blast, but found its way to the goal to cut the lead in half.
The goal gave Moncton a sudden burst of energy to start the second period with Beaudoin feeding Plandowski to knot the game up at two just 1:51 into the new frame.
Shortly after Evan Boucher’s 25th goal of the season recaptured the lead for the Mooseheads, two goals in just 1:01 from Maxim Barbashev and Jonas Taibel gave the Wildcats their first lead of the afternoon.
This put Halifax in a familiar position as they have struggled to contain the Wildcats at moments through the season, dropping three contests versus them this season, the most of any team in the league this season.
Moncton carried the lead until midway through the third when Doucet potted his second goal from his office, giving him 51 goals on the season. Dumais assisted on the goal to give him 122 points.
The game looked well on its way to going to 3-on-3 overtime, but it was the captain making a big play once again, sneaking behind the Moncton defenders and getting an opportunity in close and made no mistake on the game winning marker with 1:38 to go in the third period.
Doucet iced the game on an empty-netter to give him just one of many hat tricks for him to celebrate through his QMJHL career.
The win moves Halifax back into a tie with Patrick Roy and the Remparts for first place in the league with 97 points each. The caveat for the Mooseheads is a light schedule for their last six games, playing the lowly Sea Dogs and Titan once each and Charlottetown twice before heading into round one.
The Mooseheads host five of their last six games, with the exception in Saint John next weekend, but will resume play at the Scotiabank Centre Wednesday evening when they get to host the Titan as the chase for first place continues.