The P.E.I. Rocket and goalie Antoine Bibeau took a shutout into the third period against the Halifax Mooseheads and came away with a 5-2 win on Sunday at the Civic Centre.
It’s P.E.I.’s first win against its Maritimes Division rival, but only the fourth regulation loss for Halifax (32-4-2-1) this season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
“Better when you get the shutout, but it’s more important to win the game,” said Bibeau, who stopped 37 shots and upped his record to 14-7-1. “We played 60 minutes played together and played as a team.”
Victor Provencher and Josh Currie gave P.E.I. a 2-0 first-period lead. Jack Nevins made things 3-0 late in the second frame.
Ben Duffy and Alex Micallef (shorthanded) scored for the Rocket in the third.
Dominic Beauchemin broke up Bibeau’s shutout bid with a goal midway into the third stanza. Stefan Fournier’s power-play marker came with 10 seconds remaining in the game and rounded out the game's scoring.
Louick Marcotte had three assists for P.E.I., while Andrew Ryan assisted on the Herd’s goals.
“They outworked us tonight. You have to get to the loose pucks . . . to win and they came out with the better mindset,” said Ryan. “Winning is little bit of habit around here. We just have to get back on track and get back to what we were doing.”
Halifax starting goalie Zachary Fucale, replaced by backup Chris Clarke 3:27 into the third period, took the loss and fell to 25-4-1-1.
The Rocket played minus Tomas Pavelka and Matej Beran while the Mooseheads skated without Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin and Martin Frk, who were all making their way back to North America from the world junior championship in Russia.
Duffy played with a cage on his helmet after he was hit in the face by a puck in Saturday’s win over the Saint John Sea Dogs.
P.E.I. (23-15-2) hosts Blainville-Boisbriand on Thursday. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Civic Centre.
Rocket 2 Sea Dogs 1
At Saint John, N.B., Ryan Graves broke a 1-1 tie at 9:33 of the third period and Bibeau turned aside 27 shots as P.E.I. slipped past the Sea Dogs, who lost for the first time in three outings.
Jimmy Oligny scored in the first period for the Rocket while Jakub Izacky tied it for the Sea Dogs in the second.
Currie and Provencher each had two assists for P.E.I.
