GRAND FALLS – After trailing by four goals early, the Rapids came close to mounting a major comeback on Sunday afternoon against the West Kent Steamers but fell just short in a 5-4 decision at the E.&P. Sénéchal Centre.
West Kent started the contest by scoring four times in the opening period, taking a 4-0 lead through twenty minutes of play.
Jérôme Nadeau was first to score on a cross-ice pass in front of the net, followed by goals from Damon Englehutt (his 26th of the season), Mathis Tarani and Aiden Diamond.
The Rapids never gave up and dominated the middle frame in shots on goal (16 to 12) and on the scoreboard. In fact, two goals were scored by Greg Leland’s squad, the first one coming at 4:30 from Nathan Plamondon-Michaud, his 4th since joining the Rapids. Then at 18:18 while Grand Falls was playing on the power play, Derek Bird sent a shot between the pads of Steamers’ goalkeeper Victor Régis, cutting the West Kent lead to two goals.
Nicholas Brennan, with his 13th goal of the season, brought the score to 4-3 at the 8-minute mark of the third period, but at 11:31, West Kent restored its two-goal advantage when Spencer Caines found the back of the net.
Cole MacWilliam, with the man advantage,added the Rapids’ fourth goal at 13:13, but the score remained 5-4 until the very end.
Nathan Plamondon-Michaud had a great game offensively for the Rapids with 1 goal and 2 assists. Cole MacWilliam (1g 1a) collected two points.
Loic Nadeau was the Rapids’ netminder, making a total of 30 saves.
The Rapids scored twice on the power play on 5 PP opportunities.
The Rapids will play their next game on Wednesday night as they host the Campbellton Tigers at 7:15pm at the E.&P. Sénéchal Centre.
3 STARS OF THE GAME:
1- Mathis Tarani (WKS); 2- Nathan Palmondon-Michaud (GFR); 3- Nicholas Brennan (GFR)
Patrick Thibault
Scoring
|
1st |
|
|
|
|
2:32 |
WKS |
Jerome Nadeau (10) ASST: Mathis Tarani (21), Samuel Massé (23) |
|
|
5:07 |
WKS |
Damon Englehutt (26) ASST: Xavier Roy (26), Spencer Caines (7) |
|
|
7:54 |
WKS |
Mathis Tarani (16) ASST: Jackson Batchilder (8), Jerome Nadeau (9) |
|
|
16:25 |
WKS |
Aiden Diamond (3) ASST: Jérémy Thériault (11) |
|
|
2nd |
|
|
|
|
4:30 |
GFR |
Nathan Plamondon-Michaud (16) ASST: Anton Topilnyckyj (2), Médéric Allard (11) |
|
|
18:18 |
GFR |
Derek Bird (11) ASST: Isaac Allard (15), Nathan Plamondon-Michaud (14) (PP) |
|
|
3rd |
|
|
|
|
8:29 |
GFR |
Nicholas Brennan (13) ASST: Cole MacWilliam (7) |
|
|
11:31 |
WKS |
Spencer Caines (12) ASST: Damon Englehutt (37) |
|
|
13:13 |
GFR |
Cole MacWilliam (7) ASST: Nathan Plamondon-Michaud (15) (PP) |