It was an uphill slog for Liam Peyton and the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday night.
Facing Peyton’s former team – the Charlottetown Islanders – the rebuilding Mooseheads were mismatched against one of the QMJHL’s stronger clubs and were on the wrong side of a 5-0 decision at Scotiabank Centre.
“It was a tough game,” the 20-year-old Peyton, who spent the previous three seasons in Charlottetown, said of his first regular-season matchup against the Isles. He was traded to Halifax in June.
“It was a different feeling for me. You’re in a spot for three years and then, all of a sudden, you’re moving on.
“But we knew the opponent coming in and what we were up against. Regardless of who were playing, we have to come out every single night and perform and compete. As a team, as a whole, we are lacking that compete and that identity of wanting to win. It was evident tonight and it’s something we’ll have to take care of soon.”
Veteran forwards Cedric Desruisseaux and Thomas Casey, the QMJHL scoring co-leaders, each tallied twice to pace the Islanders (4-1-0-0).
Colten Ellis, of River Denys, Inverness Co., turned aside 25 shots for the shutout.
It was the acquisition of Ellis from the Rimouski Oceanic at the 2020 QMJHL draft in June which led the Islanders to trade Peyton to clear an overage spot for the incoming netminder. Desruisseaux and Casey are the other overagers.
The six-foot-one, 187-pound netminder praised his teammates for the shutout performance.
“The boys definitely made my job a lot easier tonight,” said the 20-year-old Ellis, a third-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2019.
“They helped me out a lot, blocking shots, doing everything right as a team. We’ve been on a good roll to start the season. We are playing a great style of hockey, hopefully we can keep it going.”
After defenceman Noah Laaouan’s opened the scoring six minutes into the game, Desruisseaux gave Charlottetown a two-goal cushion four minutes later when, from behind the goal line, he banked a shot off Halifax netminder Cole McLaren.
Later in the period, Casey deflected a point shot past McLaren on a power play and the Mooseheads faced a three-goal deficit in the first intermission.
“Momentum plays such a huge factor in the game and something I’ve learned throughout my time in the league is how big momentum really is,” Peyton said.
“Obviously when you’re down three goals, you’re looking for just about anything to turn the tide. You’re looking for a hit, finding that shift to cut into their lead. But we just couldn’t find it.”
Desruisseaux increased the lead to four, capping off a slick three-way passing play for his league-leading seventh goal.
Casey made it 5-0 late in the third when he snuck behind the Halifax defence and beat goalie Brady James – who replaced McLaren at the start of the period – high over his blocker side.
With three points apiece, Casey and Desruisseaux sit atop the league scoring lead with 11 points.
“Having those two guys as overagers is definitely special,” Ellis said. “They are two great hockey players. I played against them the last three years and you are on your toes all the time when you’re playing against them.
“I’m happy to be Charlottetown with them on my side.”
The Mooseheads won’t have any time to dwell on this loss. They return to action Saturday night when they host the Saint John Sea Dogs at 7 p.m.
“That's the great part of this league: most weekends you’re playing back-to-back games,” Peyton said. “It’s something we have to take advantage of. We can’t dwell on this tonight. We just have to learn from it and bring that compete and desire to win. We have to come out tomorrow and try to get another win under our belt.”
DUBE, MOOSEHEADS PART WAYS
Earlier on Friday, the Mooseheads announced that the team and forward Samuel Dube have decided to part ways. The 18-year-old plans to return home to Germany where he will seek to continue his playing career.
Dube, Halifax’s first pick (12th overall) in the 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft, managed just five goals and 21 points in 81 career games with the Mooseheads. The five-foot-eight, 168-pound centre recorded just one assist in four games this season.
The Mooseheads recalled 18-year-old Ethan Landry from the Valley Wildcats to fill the forward spot. Landry, a free agent invite to training camp, was in the lineup Friday night. It was his third appearance with Halifax this season.
TITAN 6, EAGLES 4
Acadie-Bathurst, after trailing 3-0 through the first 12 minutes of the game, scored three unanswered goals in the third period to defeat visiting Cape Breton.
Logan Chisholm and Mathieu Desgagnes each potted a pair of goals for the Titan (4-0-0-1). Shawn Element had a goal and an assist for the Eagles (2-3-0-0).
The two teams play again Saturday afternoon, 4 p.m. in Bathurst.
