Three games in three days. All on the road. All against powerful teams at least 30 points ahead of them. Yep, the Halifax Mooseheads are in a pickle heading to Quebec, teetering on the brink of missing the QMJHL playoffs.
They play the Gatineau Olympiques on Friday at 8:30 p.m.; the Shawinigan Cataractes on Saturday at 8 p.m.; and the Quebec Remparts on Sunday at 4 p.m.
“Six,” said Mooseheads head coach Cam Russell hopefully, when asked how many points he can reasonably expect.
They need them. The Mooseheads (15-33-6) are three points behind Baie-Comeau and Val-d’Or and four points behind Lewiston. With only 14 games left, Halifax must pass two of those teams if it wants to clinch a playoff spot.
Shawinigan (42-11-2) and Quebec (41-11-3) are jockeying for first overall and Gatineau (31-21-4) is rising fast.
Russell felt his troops botched a chance at an easy two points at home on Tuesday, when a poor effort resulted in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Bathurst Titan. He doesn’t want repeat showings in Quebec and neither do his players.
“They’re great teams and we have to make it hard on them and make sure that no matter what the score is, they’re gonna remember playing the Mooseheads,” said blue-liner Pascal Amyot. “That’s the message we want to leave.”
Forward Matt Boland (shoulder) will be a game-time decision for the weekend games. Forward Guillaume Pelletier, out since Dec. 14 with a broken kneecap, isn’t expected to play this season, Russell said. Pelletier was acquired from Rimouski in December as part of the Logan MacMillan trade.
