Mathis Rousseau shines to help Halifax stay alive in Game 5
The Halifax Mooseheads have lived to see another day thanks to a 3-2 victory over the Quebec Remparts in Game 5 of the Gilles-Courteau Trophy Championship Final. The series now sees the Remparts holding a lead of three games to two.
Markus Vidicek, Evan Boucher and Zachary L’Heureux scored for Halifax, who also received a spectacular 35-save performance from goaltender Mathis Rousseau. James Malatesta and Jeremy Langlois countered for the Remparts, with William Rousseau turning aside 19 shots in just the second postseason home loss for Quebec.
The Mooseheads took a 1-0 lead into the dressing room after the first period. They also took just 61 seconds to go to work in this game when Vidicek, following up on Justin Schultz’s point shot, converted on the rebound for his eighth tally of the playoffs. Quebec would earn an 11-9 edge in shots during the opening frame.
Despite a more offensively charged second period, Halifax would maintain its one goal lead, 3-2, after 40 minutes. The Moose followed the same script to open the middle stanza, scoring early once again. It was L’Heureux that connected on a stretch pass that sent Boucher on a breakaway that led to a 2-0 lead for the visitors at the 1:19 mark. It was Boucher’s ninth goal of the postseason. The Remparts would reply less than 90 seconds later when Malatesta, keeping the puck on a two-on-one, converted a high wrist shot into his 13th playoff tally. The visitors would retake a two-goal advantage at 6:32 when L’Heureux benefitted from a late Remparts line change to walk in on his own breakaway and fire a shot through Rousseau’s five-hole for his tenth of the playoffs. Jeremy Langlois then brought the home team to within one at 9:05, capitalizing on a rebound from down low on a 4-on-3 power play.
The Remparts would own a sizeable 17-5 shots advantage in the middle frame. They would also outshoot the Mooseheads 9-8 in a scoreless third period that saw Mathis Rousseau make a few key saves to prolong the series.
Game 6 of the QMJHL Final will take place in Halifax on Sunday afternoon. You can catch all the action live from RDS, TSN or CHL TV at 4pm ET/5pm AT.
