AMHERST – Jeremy D’Astous had a 6-point night, and the Grand Falls Rapids put an end to a four-game winless streak, taking care of business on Saturday night in Amherst with an impressive 9-5 victory.
Trailing 2-0 in the first period, the Rapids scored 7 unanswered goals to take a commanding lead and held on for their 5th win of the season. Grand Falls is currently 1-point ahead of the Fredericton Red Wings for 5th spot in the EastLink North division standings.
Playing in their 20th game of the regular season schedule, the Rapids came back from a tough start to the contest as Amherst seemed to control every facet of the game until the first 15 minutes of the opening frame. GoaltenderAdam Lecours is responsible for this comeback, making key saves to keep the Rapids in the game.
In fact, when Mathis Perron and Jaden Reyers scored two power play goals for the Ramblers, it seemed as though it would be a tough night for the visitors.
But thanks to Lecours’ great goaltending, the Rapids came back with three goals before the end of the first period to take the lead. Patrick Baxter scored his first of the game at 16:14 on a wrist shot over the blocker side of the Ramblers’ netminder. Jonah Leard then scored his 13th of the season on a backhand shot, followed by the go-ahead goal from defenseman Raphael Denis.
Amherst led 21 to 13 in shots on goal in the first period.
Grand Falls added to their lead with four unanswered tallies in the middle frame. Jeremy D’Astous scored his first of the contest at 1:04 and added his second goal and his 8th of the season at 13:51 on the power play. Nathan Rhodes and Caleb MacDonald each scored in a span of only 24 seconds to give the Rapids a 7-2 lead through two periods of play.
The Rapids kept their lead in the third period even though the Ramblers scored on three occasions. Derek Bird and Patrick Baxter (in an empty net) completed the scoring for the Rapids who had their most productive game of the season thus far.
Jeremy D’Astous (2g 4a) led the way offensively. His overall record now stands at 8 goals and 21 assists for 29 points.
Patrick Baxter (2g 1a), Caleb MacDonald and Jonah Leard (1g 2a) also contributed to thescoring for Grand Falls.
Mathis Perron had 2 goals for the Ramblers.
Adam Lecours made a total of 52 saves in net for the Rapids, earning the game’s first star honors.
Gabriel Bergeron and Lyam Leblanc shared the work between the pipes for Amherst.
The Rapids return to action on Sunday afternoon (4 pm) as they visit the West Kent Steamers.
*3 STARS OF THE GAME:
1- Adam Lecours (GFR); 2- Jérémy D’Astous(GFR); 3- Patrick Baxter (GFR)
Patrick Thibault
Scoring
|
1st |
|
|
|
|
3:06 |
AMH |
Mathis Perron (11) ASST: Jaden Reyers (11), Owen Aura (8) (PP) |
|
|
11:09 |
AMH |
Jaden Reyers (11) ASST: Cohen McCallum (4), Liam Dutcher (8) (PP) |
|
|
16:14 |
GFR |
Patrick Baxter (4) ASST: Nicholas Brennan (7), Julien Gauvreau (1) |
|
|
19:31 |
GFR |
Jonah Leard (13) ASST: Jeremy D’Astous (18), Raphael Denis (11) |
|
|
19:47 |
GFR |
Raphael Denis (3) ASST: Nicholas Brennan (8), Patrick Baxter (10) |
|
|
2nd |
|
|
|
|
1:04 |
GFR |
Jeremy D’Astous (7) ASST: Caleb MacDonald (8), Jack Brown (6) |
|
|
13:51 |
GFR |
Jeremy D’Astous (8) ASST: Derek Bird (7), Jonah Leard (12) (PP) |
|
|
16:02 |
GFR |
Nathan Rhodes (4) ASST: Jeremy D’Astous (19), Jonah Leard (13) |
|
|
16:26 |
GFR |
Caleb MacDonald (9) ASST: Jeremy D’Astous (20), Will Morrison (9) |
|
|
3rd |
|
|
|
|
2:25 |
AMH |
Jack Hayne (7) ASST: Liam Dutcher (9) |
|
|
9:11 |
GFR |
Derek Bird (4) ASST: Caleb MacDonald (9), Jeremy D’Astous (21) (PP) |
|
|
10:27 |
AMH |
David Lebel (6) ASST: None |
|
|
17:13 |
AMH |
Mathis Perron (12) ASST: Jaden Reyers (12), Coen Strang (12) |
|
|
19:03 |
GFR |
Patrick Baxter (5) ASST: Brody Pare (3) (EN) |
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