Their goals belonged on the blooper reel more than the highlight reel, but the Halifax Mooseheads will take them.
The Mooseheads took advantage of some porous goaltending on Thursday night to bust out of a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Gatineau Olympiques in QMJHL action at the Metro Centre.
Trailing 2-0 entering the second period, the Mooseheads got on the board 1:20 into the frame with a goal from Paul Dimitruk, then beat Olympiques goaltender Dereck Tait with a pair of groaners that got him pulled immediately.
“They say 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take won’t go in, so that just shows we’ve got to shoot more,” quipped Dimitruk, who scored his first goal with the Mooseheads and added two assists to collect first-star honours. “That’s a good team win, a good character test to get us out of a slump.”
A win is a win for the Mooseheads, who have only enjoyed the feeling six times in 30 outings so far.
Alex Lemieux scored from inside the blue line at 8:11 — admitting later he just threw it at the net and got lucky — and Carl Gelinas dribbled another one through Tait’s pads just 2:04 later from the top of the faceoff circle on the power play.
It marked the first time all season the Mooseheads came back from a deficit of two or more goals to win.
“That’s why it’s such a big win for us,” Dimitruk said. “It just shows that we’re growing a lot of character and that’s a great thing for a young hockey team like us.”
Mathieu Corbeil made 23 saves for Halifax and bounced back after allowing a goal to Tye McGinn eight seconds in.
The Mooseheads, 6-22-2, head to Charlottetown to play the P.E.I. Rocket, 16-10-3, on Friday night, then return home to host the Lewiston Maineiacs, 10-17-1, on Saturday.
“In the room it’s like a party now but we know we have a big game (against P.E.I.),” Lemieux said. “That game is finished and we have to concentrate on our next one.”
