THE HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS wanted to get one back on the P.E.I. Rocket at the Metro Centre on Saturday night. The Rocket beat the Mooseheads 5-2 in Charlottetown last Sunday so the rematch six days later came at a perfect time. It took most of the game to make it happen but the Mooseheads put together a 4-3 win in front of 9,397 fans. "We didn't have the greatest start but it was a big comeback win," said Mooseheads defenceman MacKenzie Weegar. "I thought it was a collective win from the group, starting with our goaltender all the way up to our forwards. We got the pucks out when we needed to get them out and we got pucks in the net when we needed them in the net." Halifax fell behind 2-0 after first-period goals by P.E.I.'s Matej Beran and Jack Nevins. Marty Frk and Nathan MacKinnon erased that advantage with second-period goals for the Mooseheads but Tomas Pavelka put the Rocket back in front 3-2 just before the second intermission. Darcy Ashley made it 3-3 with a power-play goal for Halifax 5:11 into the third period and Jonathan Drouin delivered the game-winner on a spectacular breakaway play with 6:59 left in regulation time. The sequence started when MacKinnon sent the puck through the air in the neutral zone to his rushing linemate. "Nathan made a perfect pass," Drouin said. "He flipped it up the ice and I just skated up and it was right in front of me. I did my basic move; just go to the backhand. It usually works and it worked again so I was pretty happy about that." Zachary Fucale stopped 22 shots for Halifax and Maxime Lagace made 34 saves for P.E.I. The win is the Mooseheads' second in a row and keeps them comfortably in first place overall at 35-4-2-1. It's also their second win in as many games since getting their full lineup in place after the trade period. "Right now I think we have four really strong lines and we can just roll them one to four," said Drouin, the game's first star. "We also have (Matt) Murphy here now and he's a really good D. "He was a great addition to our team. He moves the puck really well and is a great skater. I think we have a really good lineup and I really like what I'm seeing right now." The Mooseheads are still working newcomers Murphy and Stephen MacAulay into the line-up so some of the newly created lines and defence pairings are still a work in progress. There were times when Halifax's timing was out of synch but the existing chemistry from the first line helped make up for it. Frk (one goal, two assists), MacKinnon (one goal, two assists) and Drouin (one goal, one assist) combined for eight points in their second game back since the world junior tournament.

• published: 13 Jan 2013
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