Out of nowhere, the Halifax Mooseheads are winning — winning like they haven’t won in almost two years.
The Mooseheads earned a pair of victories on the weekend to sweep a four-game home-stand at the Metro Centre, topping the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 4-1 on Saturday and edging the powerful Moncton Wildcats 2-1 on Friday.
It’s the first four-game winning streak the club has had since January 2008 and comes after a horrendous start to the season that saw them lose 19 of their first 20 games.
“All season, we’ve had it in us, we’ve just been unlucky,” said defenceman Spencer Metcalfe. “Then we won one game, felt great about it, and just kept it going. Everyone feels great, energy’s great, and everything’s working out.”
It’s all come together for the Mooseheads, who are still last in the QMJHL with a 5-18-1 record but have moved to within two points of catching Baie-Comeau in the standings.
They’ve gotten gritty defensive efforts and strong goaltending from Mathieu Corbeil, while their hard-working forwards have suddenly started delivering a balanced attack.
The crowds saluted the team for its efforts with thundering ovations at the end of each weekend victory.
“We keep playing the way we’re playing, we’re a good contender,” Metcalfe said. “We’re a contender right now. We got off to a rough start, but we’re a team that can do some damage.”
The Mooseheads, who kick off a three-games-in-three-days road trip starting Friday against the Montreal Juniors, lost top defencemen Konrad Abeltshauser and Garrett Clarke to knee injuries on Friday. Both are expected to miss at least seven to 10 days, including all three this weekend.
