RAPIDS ARE EASTLINK NORTH DIVISION CHAMPS!
BOUCTOUCHE – The Grand Falls Rapids wrapped up their regular season schedule with a 3-2 overtime victory on Sunday night over the West Kent Steamers, giving them the Eastlink North division crown and a 10th consecutive win.
Conor Ryan scored the overtime winner, sending a one-timer to the back of the net in a fierce matchup which saw the Steamers come from behind on two occasions to tie the score.
By finishing first of their division, the Rapids will face the Chaleur Lightning in the first round of the MHL MetalFab playoffs with home ice advantage. The schedule should be available on Monday. Note that the Rapids won 6 of the 8 games played this season against Chaleur.
West Kent finishes in second spot while the Edmundston Blizzard are third. Both of those teams will also face off in best-of-seven series to start the playoffs.
Sunday’s contest was a great battle between two teams that were determined to skate away with the regular season crown. The Rapids played a solid game both defensively and on offense while being the most opportunistic team at the end.
Despite a scoreless first period, the Rapids came out as the better team, winning puck battles and getting some good scoring opportunities.
Grand Falls took the lead at 2:12 of the middle frame on a two-on-one break. Coen Miller’s pass hit a defender’s skate, but he was able to take his own rebound to beat Steamers’ netminder Xavier Farrah.
However, West Kent tied the score before the mid-way point of the period on a goal from Sam Bowness. The score was tied 1-1 after two periods of play.
The Rapids regained the lead early in the third period (at 1:14) on a shot from defenseman Anton Topilnyckyj on a great pass from Oliver Plante.
Greg Leland’s squad held the slim 2-1 lead until the last minute of play when the Steamers added a 6th man. Malik Bourque Vigneault tied the score on a perfect shot from the slot with only 29 seconds remaining in regulation time.
The overtime period was short as Conor Ryan was the game’s hero, scoring the game winner on assists from Loïc Francoeur and Coen Miller.
Goaltender Adam Lecours stopped 27 shots, earning his 25th victory of the season. Grand Falls had a slight edge in the shots on goal department, 31 to 29.
ADITIONNAL NOTES
*Coen Miller (1 goal and 1assist) and Loïc Francoeur (2 assists) both finished the game with two points for the Rapids.
*Both teams were scoreless on the power play.
*Three stars of the game: 1- Conor Ryan (GFR); 2- Adam Lecours (GFR); 3- Malik Bourque Vigneault (WKS)
voir*Regular season matchup between the Lightning and the Rapids:
September 28: CHA 4 GFR 7
October 24: GFR 5 CHA 3
November 2: CHA 6 GFR 5
December 20: CHA 3 GFR 5
January 16: GFR 3 CHA 4 *in overtime
January 24: GFR 6 CHA 4
February 7: GFR 4 CHA 2
February 27: CHA 5 GFR 6
Patrick Thibault
Scoring
| 1st | |||
| No Scoring | |||
| 2nd | |||
| 2:12 | GFR | Coen Miller (28) ASST: Jonah Leard (42), Nathan Dubreuil (10) | |
| 9:36 | WKS | Sam Bowness (13) ASST: Dawson Grandy (11), Pierre-Marc Minville (41) | |
| 3rd | |||
| 1:30 | GFR | Anton Topilnyckyj (6) ASST: Oliver Plante (15), Loic Francoeur (39) | |
| 19:31 | WKS | Malik Bourque Vigneault (4) ASST: Natan Grenier (43), Olivier Leblanc (19) | |
| 1st OT | |||
| 1:14 | GFR | Conor Ryan (5) ASST: Loic Francoeur (40), Coen Miller (39) | |