The Halifax Mooseheads are in the midst of a nightmarish start and nobody is delivering their wakeup call.
With arguably their best chance yet to snap a season-long winless streak and start the climb out of the QMJHL basement, the Mooseheads lost their sixth straight game 4-2 to the Victoriaville Tigres at the Metro Centre yesterday.
They’re putting on a brave face, but it’s not the start anybody with the rebuilding club had hoped for.
“It’s obviously going to come,” said forward Yuri Cheremetiev. “We’re not going to go all season without a win.”
But if it didn’t happen against Victoriaville, it’s hard to predict when it will. The Tigres were a weary club playing their third game in as many days on a gruelling road trip.
When the Mooseheads hoped to push them to the brink of exhaustion with the game tied 2-2 late in the third period, the Tigres pushed back and scored the winner with just 7:33 remaining. Tomas Kubalik pounded one past Mooseheads rookie goalie Joel Grondin after getting an ill-placed Konrad Abeltshauser clearing attempt right on his tape.
Making matters worse, Mooseheads forward Travis Randell almost scored moments before Kubalik on a slick move to his backhand. An empty-netter sealed their fate.
“We definitely thought we were going to overtime or getting the winner,” said Cheremetiev. “Unfortunately, things like that happen and there’s nothing we can do but get better from here.”
Tomas Knotek and Carl Gelinas scored for Halifax. Grondin, who wrenched the starter’s duties from Mathieu Corbeil on Corbeil’s 18th birthday, was a bright spot with 29 saves.
The Mooseheads return to action on Thursday when they host the Rimouski Oceanic. It doesn’t get any easier from there, as they play eight of nine games on the road.
“It’s tough,” Cheremetiev said. “But that’s where leadership comes in. We have to tell (the younger guys) we’re going to make it through this and make it a successful season. We have a great bunch of guys and it’s only up from here.”
