Mathieu Corbeil helped the Halifax Mooseheads get the point they needed to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Although nothing short of a miracle will get them to the post-season, the 18-year-old goaltender’s 40-save, first-star effort last night helped the Mooseheads prevent elimination in a 2-1 overtime setback to the Bathurst Titan before a sparse crowd announced as 4,528 at the Metro Centre.
Corbeil, who faced a whopping 25 shots, made some spectacular stops en route to matching his season-high save total but was beaten on a rebound by Titan captain Eric Faille with 54.5 seconds left in the extra frame.
“They had a lot of shots, a lot of dangerous ones,” Corbeil said after his 45th start of the season. “You always try to keep your team in there as much as you can and hope they score, but unfortunately it wasn’t the case.”
Mooseheads captain Tomas Knotek scored his eighth goal in nine games at 15:47 of the first but the Titan sent it to overtime on another Faille goal at 7:22 of the third. Corbeil called it a “slow, soft game” without “much emotion.”
The Mooseheads, who had 27 shots of their own on second star Guillaume Nadeau, had a golden opportunity to win it in the third period on a 51-second two-man power-play but were unable to capitalize after a 30-second timeout.
“We would have liked to get two points, but we get a point and we’re satisfied with it,” said Mooseheads right-winger Linden Bahm, a 20-year-old.
“Hopefully, we can keep getting more points so we can keep that playoff drive alive.”
The last-place Mooseheads are 13-42-6 with 32 points, 13 behind the Lewiston Maineiacs, who hold down the final playoff spot.
Halifax needs to win each of its final seven games while Lewiston only needs a point to eliminate the Herd.
The Mooseheads play their final home game of the season on Saturday at 4 p.m. against the Moncton Wildcats.
They’ll hand out their annual team awards afterward.
Memorial Cup
The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles are holding a press conference today to “outline their intentions” regarding their potential bid for the 2012 Memorial Cup. The Halifax Mooseheads announced earlier this month they would be making an “aggressive pitch” to host the event, while the Saint John Sea Dogs and Shawinigan Cataractes are the other teams in the mix.
