QUEBEC CITY, P.Q. — Trailing by two midway through the contest fans who came to the Metro Center (6,459) witnessed one of best performances by a single player. Havig already scored the second Halifax goal, the young phenomenon, Nathan MacKinnon, added four more in the second half of the match, leading the Mosseheads to victory over the Remparts.
Coming out of Cape Breton in first of three games in four nights in the Maritimes, Quebec came to Halifax with great anticipation. Dominating in shots in the first 10:29, Halifax was the first to draw blood in the game on Jushua Desmond’s rocket, beating a screened Louis Domingue to his left side at 17:02.
After Halifax netminder Zachary Fucale stretched out to make the save on a shot by Mikhail Grigorenko, Quebec defenseman Ryan Culkin took the rebound scoring his third of the year at 18:02. Grigorenko came back 41 seconds later blasting a shot from the slot behind Mosseheads goaltender, giving to Quebec, the lead for first time in the game. Quebec ended the first period dominating the shots on goal 18-6 with 11 shots from in the scoring zone. Halifax traded goals with Quebec but still trailed by one after forty minutes. Nathan MacKinnon one of the most talked about players in the QMJHL this year tied the score 2-2 redirecting a shot from Alexandre Grenier at 4:32. Quebec regained the lead 36 seconds later on 13th of the regular season by Anthony Duclair. With Grenier in the penalty box for Halifax. Adam Erne scored Quebec fourth goal in the game, his 12th of the season at 10:17. But with 2:13 remaining in the middle frame MacKinnon scored his second of the game on what became the highlight goal of the period. Getting a perfect pass from defenseman Konrad Abeltshauser, the Halifax young 16-year-old slid the puck between Domingue’s pads with a backhand cutting the Quebec lead to 4-3 after two periods. MacKinnon came back 43 seconds into the third period completing his hat trick scoring his 17th of the year tying the score 4-4. MacKinnon made it a 5-4 lead scoring his fourth of the game surprising Domingue under his right pad at 11:30. Trey Lewis and Alexandre Grenier got the helpers on MacKinnon 18th of the season. The 2011 first round pick by Baie-Comeau who has been involved in a major trade to Halifax, scored his fifth of the night in an empty net, securing the Halifax victory. Quebec will end their three games in four nights when they visit Prince Edward Island facing the Rocket on Sunday. Five other games were on schedule in the QMJHL on Saturday Chicoutimi 2 vs. Acadie-Bathurst 3 (overtime) Moncton 1 vs. Cape Breton 6 Shawinigan 2 vs. Saint John 3 (overtime) Victoriaville 4 vs. Rouyn-Noranda 5 Drummondville 0 vs. Val-d’Or 2 Contact the author at: serge.poulin@prohockeynews.com
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