It was another close call for the Halifax Mooseheads in Charlottetown on Saturday.
The Mooseheads took the first-place Islanders to overtime but couldn't quite get over the hump in a 3-2 loss in front of 970 fans at the Eastlink Centre. It was the eighth straight loss to the Islanders for the Mooseheads, who have not been on the right side of the score against them since Feb. 3.
"What I said to my players between periods was that just getting back into this game and maybe winning it is all part of our growth as a young hockey team," said Mooseheads head coach J.J. Daigneault. "I'm proud that the guys fought back and picked up the one point. Obviously it's disappointing they scored with 13 seconds to go with a face-off in the D zone but there are so many positive signs."
"It's all part of our growth. The young kids that we have right now are going to be together for two or three years and we're growing together with our successes and disappointments."
- J.J. Daigneault, Mooseheads head coach
Despite the near miss, there is certainly no shame in losing to the Islanders. This is a team that has only lost four games all season and is riding a 13-game winning streak. Charlottetown is first overall in the QMJHL with a 28-4-0-0 record.
"To me, the stat that shows the youth of our team is the overtime and shootout losses," Daigneault said. "We have five overtime losses and three shootout losses and that's the sign of a team that has a hard time putting teams away and finding a way to win. But it's mostly the sign of a young team.
"If you take a look at Charlottetown, they have no OT losses and no shootout losses. They usually don't let the game go there. They're an experienced team and they're talented and that's the difference between the two of us at this time."
The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period and the Islanders went ahead 2-1 in the second. Halifax's Bobby Orr forced overtime when his pass went in off Charlottetown defenceman Noah Laaouan with 3:05 left in the third period. But Laaouan would get his redemption when he scored the winner in OT.
The game-winner.
— Charlottetown Islanders (@IslandersHKY) March 28, 2021
🚨 | Laaouan
🍏 | Peach
🍎 | Budgell pic.twitter.com/iO2DHxyP8O
"It's all part of our growth," Daigneault said. "The young kids that we have right now are going to be together for two or three years and we're growing together with our successes and disappointments. Last week when these guys came back against us when we were up 4-0, yes it was disappointing but we also learned something and the head coach learned something from that too. We're all learning and our time will come."
Thomas Casey and Brett Budgell also scored for the Islanders and Jordan Dumais had the other Mooseheads goal.
Colten Ellis stopped 29 shots for Charlottetown and Alexis Gravel made 35 saves for Halifax.
"Gravy made some huge saves for us," Daigneault said. "It was probably one of his best games of the season. He was really sharp and that's a good sign going forward. There were a lot of positives."
35 saves for the 2nd Star Alexis Gravel.
— Halifax Mooseheads (@HFXMooseheads) March 28, 2021
This one was huge. #GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com/8yo3Nh4Y3K
The Mooseheads' next game is a rematch with the Islanders at home on Thursday.
Notes: Brendan Tomilson, Keegan Hunt, Alexandre Tessier, Alexandre David, William Robitaille and Cole Foston did not play for the Mooseheads. ... Islanders leading scorer Cedric Desruisseaux extended his points streak to 17 games with a first-period assist. He has 35 points during the streak.
