The QMJHL's top team extend their lead atop the rest of the pack.
Between Islander Day and Family Day , it was a February statutory holiday to remember for the home teams on Monday. That includes a Moncton Wildcats team that just can't stop winning.
Recap: Halifax (5) - Moncton (7)
Moncton's Caleb Desnoyers fights to get his stick on Halifax's Carlos Handel's shot. (Photo: Daniel St-Louis) It's been a wonderful couple of years to be a Moncton Wildcats fan, and this recent stretch shows just why.
The team had won 11 straight games heading into a Family Day afternoon contest against Halifax, and have been absolutely dominant essentially since Caleb Desnoyers returned from a wrist injury a few weeks into the season.
On Monday, they continued to show off their high-powered offence.
Simon Binkley opened the scoring with his 18th of the year, before Evan Depatie doubled the lead on the power play five minutes later. Shawn Carrier got one back shorthanded with 37 seconds left in the first, but Rian Chudzinski restored the two-goal advantage before the period ended, sending the Wildcats to the locker room up 3-1.
The game was an extremely chippy affair, with nine minor penalties handed out in the first period alone. In the second, that reached a boiling point, where Chudzinski fought Daniel Walters before Tommy Bleyl took a five-minute high sticking penalty, giving the Mooseheads a golden chance with the man advantage.
For a moment, it seemed like they'd taken that advantage and ran, with goals from Owen Phillips and Carrier's second of the night in the first minute of the power play. But, Moncton answered back with two shorthanded markers of their own during the last four minutes of the kill, with the Utah Mammoth draft pick duo of Gabe Smith and Desnoyers neutralizing the effects of the early power-play goals.
Connor MacPhearson would score later in the period to reduce the Wildcats lead to 5-4 heading into the third, and everyone needed the second intermission to catch their breath first, after six minor penalties were dished out in the second as well.
The third was much more calm, with the teams focused on the scoreboard. Moncton managed to shut it down as Liam Bursaw and Riley Sampson grabbed insurance markers, pushing the score to 7-4 for the hosts.
A late Oleg Kulebiakin tally, his 24th of the season, counted for just consolation as the Wildcats took their 12th consecutive victory, with a final score of 7-5.
Depatie (1+2) and Adam Fortier-Gendron (0+3) led the way with three-point efforts, while Chudzinski (1+1), Max Vilen (0+2) and Preston Lounsbury (0+2) also had multi-point nights. Carrier's two goals and an assist weren't enough for Halifax to pull off the upset.
With the win, Moncton collected their 40th victory of the campaign, marking back-to-back years where they hit that tally.
Other Scores
Cape Breton (0) - Charlottetown (7)
Victoriaville (2) - Saint John (5)
Player of the Night
Alexis Joseph (SNB) - 1 goal, 2 assists
Tonight's Games
Drummondville at Quebec - 7 PM EST
Related
Never want to miss out on any QMJHL news? Make sure to book mark THN's QMJHL site.
Also follow @roryyarthur on X/Twitter for more updates.