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The Moncton Wildcats got the first goal of the series, but it was the Halifax Mooseheads walking away with the first win with the help of their 16-year-olds.

The Herd’s young team which lacks playoff experience looked like a veteran team Friday night with a convincing 5-1 win.

James Melindy put Moncton on the board just a few minutes into the game on one of the several chances at the power play the Wildcats had in the first. But it was a devastating hit by Moose defenseman Konrad Abeltschauser on Patrick Delisle-Houde that brought the 7,000-plus fans at the Metro Centre to it’s feet and seemed to swing the momentum.

With just a few minutes left in the first period, rookie Nathan MacKinnon dangled away from the corner and around two more sprawling Wildcats to tie the game up at one. Fellow rookie Jonathan Drouin would rip one top shelf early in the second and MacKinnon would follow that up a minute later with his second of the night.

The third period belonged to Martin Frk, one of his two goals an excellent rushing deke.

Mooseheads goalie Zach Fucale had a much quieter night than his counterpart at the other end of the rink, facing just 18 shots. The Moose hurled 40 shots at Roman Will.

The Wildcats were without leading scorer Alex Saulnier and fellow centre Devon MacAusland. Both are in Halifax and listed as day-to-day.

Game two of the best-of-seven series goes Saturday night at Metro Centre at 7 p.m.