IT WAS A NIGHT of firsts for the Halifax Mooseheads at the Metro Centre on Friday.

Bradley MacDonald scored his first goal in a Halifax uniform, the Mooseheads got on the scoreboard for the first time in three games and Peter Delmas got his first win in the Halifax net. But most importantly, the Mooseheads got their first victory in nearly a month. They dropped the Chicoutimi Sagueneens 5-1 in front of 5,463 enthusiastic fans to snap an eight-game losing streak that dated back to Dec. 18.

"All the boys are in there (the dressing room) celebrating now after all the hard work we put in. It feels good," said Mooseheads defenceman Steve Gillard. "We hadn’t won in a while and we hadn’t scored in three games so it feels good to get a few tonight. The boys battled hard and we deserved it all."

MacDonald, a Dartmouth native acquired from the P.E.I. Rocket last Thursday, scored the opening goal 3:31 into the second period. His goal snapped a team scoring drought that lasted 161 minutes 27 seconds. The last time the Mooseheads scored was during a Jan. 8 loss to the Montreal Juniors.

"It took a lot of stress off us," MacDonald said. "I could sense it because we got two quick ones right after that first goal.

"It was unbelievable to get my first goal," he added. "I grew up when Alex Tanguay and Ladislav Nagy and Jason King were playing. They used to score and I’d be up in Section 3 waving my shirt. I’d take it off and wave it around and go nuts when they scored. So this feels great."

Travis Randell, Carl Gelinas, Brent Andrews and Jessyko Bernard also scored for the last-place Mooseheads, who improve to 9-33-1-2 with the win. Emrik Guillemette scored Chicoutimi’s only goal.

Delmas, who grew up in Bedford, stopped 18 shots for the victory and Robin Gusse made 35 saves for the Sagueneens.

The Mooseheads also showed some signs of coming together since the trade period ended last Friday. Joining MacDonald and Delmas as new faces since Christmas are Jamie Bishop, Andrew Wigginton and Dylan McGuigan, while Guillaume Pelletier and Spencer Metcalfe are no longer here.

"Everyone’s just coming together now and getting used to the new players and systems," Gillard said. "Some new guys came in and stepped up so it’s been good. We’re just improving every day."

The win kicks off what the Halifax players hope is a fruitful five-game homestand. They play their next game on Sunday afternoon when they welcome the second-overall Drummondville Voltigeurs and league scoring leader Sean Couturier.

"I think Drummondville is beatable," said MacDonald. "We’ve got a quick team so I think we can match their speed. If we stick to the game plan hopefully we’ll come out with two points. We’re all looking forward to a good game on Sunday."

Other QMJHL results from Friday were: Moncton 6, Baie-Comeau 0; Drummondville 6, Bathurst 1; Montreal 5, Rimouski 4; Victoriaville 4, Shawinigan 1; Rouyn-Noranda 10, Lewiston 3.

Notes: Garrett Clarke (concussion), Linden Bahm (broken wrist), Alex Lemieux (mononucleosis) and Jordan Costello (healthy scratch) did not dress for the Mooseheads. ... Former Mooseheads centre Alexis Piette recorded an assist on Guillemette’s goal.

( wpalov@herald.ca)