Mooseheads Stun Another Top Team
Published on October 30, 2025 under Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Halifax Mooseheads News Release
Where do you begin with what this upstart Halifax Mooseheads team has been able to accomplish early in the QMJHL season. The club continued to prove the doubters wrong on Wednesday night with a massive upset of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada by scoring a 7-5 victory in the suburbs of Montreal.
The Moose solidified the win with four goals in the third period after coughing up an early lead and falling behind the team that is expected to win the Gilles Courteau Trophy in the spring. Halifax has won three straight and eight-of-thier-last-10 to improve their impressive record to 10-4 and are just the second team in the QMJHL to reach double digit wins this season.
Third overall pick Malik L'Italien enjoyed his best game in a Mooseheads uniform by scoring his first career goal and adding a pair of assists and the 16-year-old defenceman was named the first star. Oleg Kulebiakin and Quinn Kennedy scored two goals apiece while Shawn Carrier and Caylen Blake both had huge goals in key moments. Three players had three-point outings as Liam Kilfoil's three assists matched the point totals of L'Italien and Kulebiakin.
Special teams played an extremely large role in helping the team find a way to get the road win. The Herd popped in three power play goals in seven chances while they killed off all five Armada opportunities with the man advantage.
Goalie Owen Bresson faced his fair share of rubber and made 37 saves on 41 shots from the skilled group of Blainville-Boisbriand players. St Louis Blues first round pick Justin Carbonneau scored twice while 19-year-old Vincent Desjardins also had two for the home team. The Armada loaded up in the offseason in order to take a run at the league title and they remain the favourites going forward, but they have had a few missteps early on with three straight losses to drop to 9-4-2-0 in the standings.
Kulebiakin potted his team-leading ninth and 10th goals in the first period to stake the Herd to a 2-0 late in the first period before the Armada got one back off the stick of Carbonneau. The Blainville goal was the first of three in a row from the home side. They took their first and only lead midway through the second period on goals 51 seconds apart from Vincent Desjardins and Olivier Lemieux.
Halifax bounced back just over a minute after Lemieux's strike when Shawn Carrier buried one on the power play. Then it was L'Italien's big moment as he put a puck on net from the point right off a draw deep in the Armada zone that found its way over the goal line for a 4-3 Halifax lead. Not only was it his first career goal but it came while the Mooseheads were shorthanded and in the midst of killing off two penalties early in the third period.
Caylen Blake then added to the lead when he made it 5-3 by rifling in a loose puck from the slot. The goals were coming fast and furious and it was Quinn Kennedy with the eventual game-winner exactly 50 seconds after Blake lit the lamp. That made it a 6-3 game but the Armada still had plenty of time and made things interesting with another pair of goals to cut the Halifax lead to 6-5 with 4:05 remaining in regulation. Halifax turned it up a notch defensively down the stretch and Kennedy finished things off with an empty net goal to secure the spectacular and perhaps unexpected win.
Kilfoil's three assists led the way in the apple department while L'Italien and Connor MacPherson chipped in with a pair of helpers. Carrier, Owen Phillips, Danny Walters, Patrick McNab and Carlos Handel all had single assists.
The Mooseheads have opened their road trip with back-to-back victories over Moncton and now Blainville, and have surprised many pundits across the league with their hot start. The road trip continues on Friday night with another tough test against a strong team in Rouyn-Noranda at 8pm ADT. The Moose will wrap up the trip on Saturday afternoon at 5pm in Val d'Or.
The next home game for the Mooseheads is Kids Day on Sunday, November 9th at 3pm against the Charlottetown Islanders. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.ca.
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from October 30, 2025
- Sea Dogs Rally to Top Eagles - Cape Breton Eagles
- Sea Dogs Outduel Eagles for Second-Straight Win - Saint John Sea Dogs
- Sea Dogs to Honour Canadian Armed Forces on Sunday at TD Station - Saint John Sea Dogs
- Eagles Look for Revenge in Rematch against Saint John - Cape Breton Eagles
- Congratulations to Will Shields on 200 QMJHL Games - Charlottetown Islanders
- Will Shields Celebrates 200th Game with Islanders OT Win - Charlottetown Islanders
- Mooseheads Stun Another Top Team - Halifax Mooseheads
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
