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" hat geschrieben:TOP STORY - Friday, May 6, 2005
Rimouski whomps Herd in opener
By Philip Croucher - The Daily News
RIMOUSKI, Que. – The Halifax Mooseheads lost big, but credit them for going down with some fight.
Trailing 8-0 to the Rimouski Oceanic after a terrible first half to their game, the Mooseheads played much better in the final 30 minutes in what still turned out to be a decisive Game 1 defeat.
But now, heading into tonight’s second game in Rimouski, the Mooseheads have something to build on, something that was hard to find in the opening period-and-a-half last night.
“As you saw in the second and third period, we can really match those guys,” said Mooseheads defenceman Pierre-Olivier Beaulieu, as Halifax lost Game 1 of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final 9-4 at the Colisee de Rimouski. “It’s a matter of showing up, which we didn’t do in the first period.”
Simply put, the first period was one to forget for Halifax. After missing a pair of good scoring chances in the opening three minutes, the Mooseheads watched the high-flying Oceanic score five goals before the intermission, including four in a span of just 4:31.
Cole Harbour’s Sidney Crosby started the onslaught, roofing the puck over Mooseheads goaltender Jeremy Duchense on a loose puck in front at 3:22.
Then 1:38 later, Jean-Michel Bolduc scored the first of five power play goals for Rimouski, which was followed about two minutes later by markers 13 seconds apart from Mark Tobin and Jean-Sebastien Cote.
Then with 2:10 left in the first, Crosby found Mario Scalzo Jr. coming in from the point, and the 20-year-old defenceman beat Duchesne low, to the far-side. Duchesne, who allowed five goals on 14 shots, would play the rest of the period, before being replaced by Jason Churchill for the start of the second.
“I don’t know what happened. I think every time they were coming into the zone taking a shot they were scoring,” Beaulieu said. “They had goals, and we didn’t play hard enough, and weren’t ready.”
If the Mooseheads thought they still had a chance in this game, it was pretty much put to rest in the first half of the second.
The Oceanic scored three more times before the 12-minute mark of the middle period, sending most of the standing-room crowd of 5,062 into an uncontrollable frenzy.
“We didn’t expect to get up 8-0. No one is going to against a team that is well balanced and has three lines like that,” said Oceanic forward Danny Stewart, who finished with two goals and three assists. “But it’s only 1-0 in the series. There’s no total goals.”
Four straight goals
After Rimouski’s eighth goal by Zbynek Hrdel, the Mooseheads started playing better, and would roll off four straight goals before the third period reached the five-minute mark to give their opposition something to think about.
Rimouski made the final 9-4 when Stewart scored his second of the night on the power play at 12:39.
“In the third period, we wanted to win that period and try to take over what momentum we can from tonight’s game,” said Mooseheads forward Rane Carnegie, who scored Halifax’s first goal with 2:21 left in the second. “Use it to prepare ourselves for (tonight).”
NOTES: Ryan Moore, Luciano Lomanno, Kenzie Sheppard, James Pouliot and Ryan Hillier were the scratches for Halifax.
HIGHLIGHT REEL
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final
Game 1 -- Colisee de Rimouski
• SCORE: Rimouski Oceanic 9 Halifax Mooseheads 4.
• SCORERS: Oceanic — Mario Scalzo Jr. 2, Danny Stewart 2, Sidney Crosby, Jean-Michel Bolduc, Mark Tobin, Jean-Sebastien Cote; Mooseheads — David Brine 2, Rane Carnegie, Petr Vrana.
• SYNOPSIS: This game was pretty much over early for Halifax. Rimouski scored four goals before the game was eight minutes old and led 8-0 with nine minutes left in the second. Halifax did play better over the second half, which gives them something to build on for Game 2.
• WHAT IT MEANS: The Oceanic led the series 1-0, with Game 2 back in Rimouski tonight at 8:30 p.m.
• ATTENDANCE: 5,062 (sellout).
Crosbys Statistik diese Saison:
Season Team GP G A PTS +/- PIM
2004-05 Regular Season RIM 62 66 102 168 78 84
2004-05 Playoffs RIM 10 10 15 25 13 14
