It turns out the Bathurst Titan were the right opponent at the right time for the Halifax Mooseheads.
The Mooseheads went into Friday's game in Bathurst on a season-long five-game losing streak and left with a 4-1 win. It shouldn't come as a huge shock because we are now seven weeks into the QMJHL season and the Titan still have not won a game.
"It was important for us tonight to play some desperate hockey to get back on track," said Mooseheads head coach J.J. Daigneault. "You had two teams that played with desperation trying to get a win and sometimes it's not easy to get ready for those games. Obviously for us we wanted to stop the bleeding and get back to our winning ways but also play the right way.
"I think the guys came hard and came out with a good effort. We played much better defensively than we did during our losing span and it paid off."
With the recent losses starting to weight on them, the relief came early for the Mooseheads. They scored three times in the first 12 minutes to make it 3-0, including the opening goal just 54 seconds into the game. The early lead allowed them to play comfortably the rest of the night.
"The guys came out storming," Daigneault said. "We had two very good practices this week and for us it was a matter of practising the right way and bringing what we did in the practices to the game. At the same time there were a lot of things we needed to address so we watched a lot of video of our D-zone coverage, of tracking back and our backchecking.
"We touched on a lot of issues. Some needed to be worked on because of the tactical part of it but there were a lot of others that needed to be touched on because of the lack of effort that we put into playing our systems. And the guys understood and obviously their effort paid off tonight."
Bo Groulx, Raphael Lavoie, Senna Peeters and Justin Barron had the Halifax goals. Olivier Coulombe snapped the Mooseheads' shutout bid with 6:10 left in the third period.
Alexis Gravel made 25 saves for Halifax and Tristan Berube stopped 31 shots for Bathurst.
The win puts the Mooseheads (8-8-1-0) back at .500, while the Titan (0-11-2-3) remain winless.
Defenceman Walter Flower left the game in the third period after falling into the boards awkwardly and did not return.
"I didn't get an update from our trainer yet but we'll know more soon," Daigneault said. "We're missing some defencemen but the kids have played well. They're growing. Lucas Robinson is playing much better. He looks more confident out there. And Keegan (Hunt) is new with us so we have to spot him but he's holding his ground.
"And the veterans were really good tonight. Patty Kyte chewed up a lot of ice time and Justin Barron must've had his best game of the season so far. Not only was he good offensively but he played the right way defensively. He made some good decisions so it was a good game overall for us."
The Mooseheads return for a home game on Saturday against the Saint John Sea Dogs.
Notes: Cape Breton Eagles winger Ryan Francis was named to the QMJHL team for the CIBC Canada-Russia series on Friday. The Beaver Bank native is replacing Cape Breton teammate Mathias Laferriere, who is unable to play in the Monday and Tuesday games because of an injury. Francis is fifth in QMJHL scoring with 32 points in 17 games. ... Jared McIsaac (shoulder), Cole Foston (knee), Brendan Tomilson (undisclosed injury) and Cam Whynot (World Under-17 Challenge) did not play for Halifax.
Mooseheads beat Titan 4-1, snap losing streak
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