Some wins are more important psychologically than others.
Beating the Bathurst Titan 3-2 at the Scotiabank Centre on Saturday not only relieved the pressure of a growing losing streak but also proved to the Halifax Mooseheads they can win games with their retooled roster.
"We snapped our six-game losing streak so the boys feel pretty good," Halifax defenceman Jason Horvath said. "I think also we just played a good, all-around hockey game and that's what happens when you do that; you come out with a big W."
Prior to the mid-season trade period, the Mooseheads relied heavily on a core of impact veterans to help them win roughly every other game. With most of those players headed to new destinations, a team that hovered around .500 in the first half needed to reinvent itself in the second half. Getting rewarded for a committed effort will help shape that new dynamic.
"Before Christmas our three top scorers helped us with a lot of our victories but now I think, as a group, we can work all together and get some greasy goals and also some nice ones," Horvath said. "We know we can work as a team and I think we'll be fine.
"We have a working identity. We chip pucks, work the opponent's D and get pucks to the net. For sure our identity's a bit different now but all around we know we can keep playing well if we work as a team the way we have been the past few games."
You could even go so far as to say that although the Mooseheads don't have as much talent as they did before management made the trades, they may play harder and with more jump now.
"All the players on our team can bring something to the table," Horvath said. "From our first line to our fourth line, we all know how to play hockey. ... Every guy on this team can bring offence and defence."
The win against Bathurst demonstrates that. New overager D'Artagnan Joly proved his worth again with his second goal and sixth point in his fifth game since coming on board, Jeff Burridge scored his second goal in three games and Kyle Petten's first goal since being called up at Christmastime was the winner.
Alexis Gravel also stood tall in a 27-save performance. Tristan Berube made 36 saves for Bathurst.
"It feels good," said Petten, the game's first star. "We knew coming into this game it was a good opportunity to get a win and we capitalized on it. Now we'll keep moving forward from here."
The Titan (6-25-3-4) are in last place overall but the only other teams behind the Mooseheads (16-19-2-1) in the overall standings are the Gatineau Olympiques and Quebec Remparts. Halifax has 35 points, followed by Quebec (31), Gatineau (27) and Bathurst (19) and the bottom two teams in the league miss the playoffs.
With more than a third of the season left to play, there should be some tight races down the stretch.
"We know we've got a young group here so I think getting that win against Bathurst is a good win," Petten said. "We're having fun, just going to work every day and getting better."
The Mooseheads' next game is on Friday at home against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
Notes: Cole Foston, Samuel Dube, Gavin Hart and Justin Barron did not dress for Halifax and Jared McIsaac and Raphael Lavoie remain with Team Canada at the world junior championship in the Czech Republic.
Beating the Bathurst Titan 3-2 at the Scotiabank Centre on Saturday not only relieved the pressure of a growing losing streak but also proved to the Halifax Mooseheads they can win games with their retooled roster.
"We snapped our six-game losing streak so the boys feel pretty good," Halifax defenceman Jason Horvath said. "I think also we just played a good, all-around hockey game and that's what happens when you do that; you come out with a big W."
Prior to the mid-season trade period, the Mooseheads relied heavily on a core of impact veterans to help them win roughly every other game. With most of those players headed to new destinations, a team that hovered around .500 in the first half needed to reinvent itself in the second half. Getting rewarded for a committed effort will help shape that new dynamic.
"Before Christmas our three top scorers helped us with a lot of our victories but now I think, as a group, we can work all together and get some greasy goals and also some nice ones," Horvath said. "We know we can work as a team and I think we'll be fine.
"We have a working identity. We chip pucks, work the opponent's D and get pucks to the net. For sure our identity's a bit different now but all around we know we can keep playing well if we work as a team the way we have been the past few games."
You could even go so far as to say that although the Mooseheads don't have as much talent as they did before management made the trades, they may play harder and with more jump now.
"All the players on our team can bring something to the table," Horvath said. "From our first line to our fourth line, we all know how to play hockey. ... Every guy on this team can bring offence and defence."
The win against Bathurst demonstrates that. New overager D'Artagnan Joly proved his worth again with his second goal and sixth point in his fifth game since coming on board, Jeff Burridge scored his second goal in three games and Kyle Petten's first goal since being called up at Christmastime was the winner.
Alexis Gravel also stood tall in a 27-save performance. Tristan Berube made 36 saves for Bathurst.
"It feels good," said Petten, the game's first star. "We knew coming into this game it was a good opportunity to get a win and we capitalized on it. Now we'll keep moving forward from here."
The Titan (6-25-3-4) are in last place overall but the only other teams behind the Mooseheads (16-19-2-1) in the overall standings are the Gatineau Olympiques and Quebec Remparts. Halifax has 35 points, followed by Quebec (31), Gatineau (27) and Bathurst (19) and the bottom two teams in the league miss the playoffs.
With more than a third of the season left to play, there should be some tight races down the stretch.
"We know we've got a young group here so I think getting that win against Bathurst is a good win," Petten said. "We're having fun, just going to work every day and getting better."
The Mooseheads' next game is on Friday at home against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
Notes: Cole Foston, Samuel Dube, Gavin Hart and Justin Barron did not dress for Halifax and Jared McIsaac and Raphael Lavoie remain with Team Canada at the world junior championship in the Czech Republic.
