EDMUNDSTON – The Rapids returned to the ice on Friday night against their Northwestern rivals at the Jean-Daigle Centre in Edmundston. The Blizzard skated away with a 6-2 victory for a league-leading 19th win this season.
The final score did not show how close this game went until the 16th minute of play of the final period as the Rapids never trailed until then by more than two goals. However, special teams played an important part in the game as the Rapids failed to score on 5 power play opportunities while the Blizzard scored two shorthanded goals (including an empty netter) and one power play tally which happened to be the game winning goal.
Mathieu Pigeon got Edmundston on the board in the first period, scoring at 13:23 on a pass sent to the front of the net by defenseman Alexis Jacques.
The Rapids tied the score at 1:02 of the second period when Caleb MacDonald sent a quick pass in front of the crease to Jonah Leard who tallied his team-leading 12th goal of the season.
Edmundston would regain the lead for good at 15:59 of the middle frame while playing a man short. Darien Thomson was able to get by a defenseman, scoring his 4th of the season. Emile Fournier added to the lead at 18:25 on a power play as Edmundston held a 3-1 advantage through two periods of play.
Grand Falls reduced the margin early in the third period. Jeremy D’Astous went in alone on Blizzard netminder Simon Boucher, scoring his 5th of the season to bring the score to 3-2.
Edmundston regained their two-goal cushion at 2:08 on a goal from Nathan Plamondon.
The Blizzard added two empty net goals in the final minutes of play from Emile Fournier and Justin Bouchard-Trottier, the last one while they were playing shorthanded.
Shots on goal were 48 to 24 in favour of the Blizzard. Despite the loss, Adam Lecours stood tall between the pipes for the visitors.
Emile Fournier led the scoring for Edmundston with 2 goals. For the Rapids, Jeremy D’Astous and Jonah Leard both finished the night with 1g 1a while Caleb MacDonald picked up 2 assists.
A total of 2491 spectators were on hand at the game.
The Rapids return on home ice on Sunday afternoon (3pm) as they host the Miramichi Timberwolves.
*3 STARS OF THE GAME:
1- Émile Fournier (EDM) 2- Carl-Anthony Massé (EDM); 3- Darien Thomson (EDM)
Patrick Thibault
Scoring
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1st |
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13:23 |
EDM |
Mathieu Pigeon (1) ASST: Alexis Jacques (18) |
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2nd |
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1:02 |
GFR |
Jonah Leard (12) ASST: Caleb MacDonald (6), Jeremy D’Astous (16) |
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15:59 |
EDM |
Darien Thomson (4) ASST: Carl-Anthony Massé (17) (SH) |
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18:25 |
EDM |
Émile Fournier (11) ASST: Philippe Collette (22), Carl-Anthony Massé (18) (PP) |
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3rd |
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0:18 |
GFR |
Jeremy D’Astous (5) ASST: Jonah Leard (10), Caleb MacDonald (7) |
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2:08 |
EDM |
Nathan Plamondon-Michaud (9) ASST: Darien Thomson (9), Colby Morin (3) |
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16:46 |
EDM |
Émile Fournier (12) ASST: Justin Hebert (7) (EN) |
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19:22 |
EDM |
Justin Bouchard-Trottier (7) ASST: None (EN, SH) |