BLIZZARD DEFEAT RAPIDS 4-2

EDMUNDSTON – The Edmundston Blizzard scored the tie-breaking goal midway into the third period of play, defeating the Rapids by a score of 4-2 Thursday night at the Jean-Daigle Centre.

Nathan Crane’s shot from the faceoff circle beat Rapids’ netminder Adam Lecours at 9:52 of the final frame, making the difference in a game that was a hard-fought battle from beginning to end.
The Rapids tied the score on two occasions but were never able to gain the lead.
Lecours and Blizzard goalkeeper Cedric Massé both made some key saves throughout the contest which saw Edmundston finish with a slight advantage in the shots on goal department, 27 to 26.

The Blizzard took an early lead in the opening period with a goal from Louis-Jacob Beauregard on a backhand shot at 2:27.
The Rapids tied the score three minutes later on a tight angle shot from Jonah Leard, his 3rd tally of the season.

Both teams also scored on one occasion in the middle frame.
Justin Bouchard-Trottier took control of a loose puck in front of the Rapids’ crease to give Edmundston the lead at 6:25.
With his team playing shorthanded, Nathan Plamondon-Michaud went on a breakaway, finding the back of the net at 9:24 to tie the game 2-2. It was Michaud’s 6th goal of the campaign.
After two periods of play, shots on goal were also even at 20-20.

The third period was played cautiously on both sides, but the Blizzard took the lead on a goal from Nathan Crane with a shot to the short side of Lecours. Charles-Éric Tremblay added the empty-net goal, giving the Blizzard their 5th victory of the season. The Rapids now fall to 6-2-1 and are currently 1-point back of both Chaleur and West-Kent for possession of top spot in the Eastlink North division standings.

EXTRA NOTES …

*Blizzard defenseman Zachary Robochaud was the only player on both sides to register 2 points with a pair of assists.

*The Rapids went scoreless on 4 power play opportunities while Edmundston finished the game 0 for 3.

*Edmundston’s Elliot Guenette (1a) was named the game’s first star. His teammate Nathan Crane (1g) received second star honors while the third star went to the Rapids’ Nathan-Plamondon Michaud (1g).

*Game attendance was 2157 spectators.

*The Rapids will play their next game on Saturday night as they travel to Miramichi to play the Timberwolves for a 7pm start.

Patrick Thibault

Scoring
1st
2:27 EDM Louis-Jacob Beauregard (1) ASST: François-Xavier Mercier (2), Jake MacDonald (1)

5:26 GFR Jonah Leard (3) ASST: Tristan Richard (2)

2nd
6:25 EDM Justin Bouchard-Trottier (3) ASST: Zachary Robichaud (4), Eliott Guenette (2)

9:24 GFR Nathan Plamondon-Michaud (6) ASST: None (SH)

3rd
9:52 EDM Nathan Crane (1) ASST: Zachary Robichaud (5), Noah Breau (7)

19:50 EDM Charles-Éric Tremblay (3) ASST: None – empty net