- For a team that scored only 6 goals in their previous four games and was looking at a 0-4 record, the Rapids were a transformed team last weekend. Getting on the board 6 times in both of their contests, Greg Leland’s squad registered its first two wins of the season, which was of course a boost for moral and confidence.
A confident and hard-working group is most certainly what we saw. As mentioned previously, it is difficult to create an immediate identity with a team that has so many new faces in the lineup. Even following these first two victories, there is still a long way to go before identifying the strengths of the team and definite line combinations offensively. As the Rapids will be moving forward in theirquest to add points to the standings, there is still a phase of learning from mistakes that young players will have to go through while making sure to improve every facet of their game.
There were some amazing offensive performances last weekend, notably from Jonah Leard who finished with a record of 5 goals and 2 assists in two games, including a hat trick against the Campbellton Tigers on Friday night. Linemates Caleb MacDonald (2g 2a) and Jeremy D’Astous (1g 4a) also had a strong performance.
The team went 3 for 9 on the power play with Leard scoring all three goals. He is currently the league leader in PP goals with 4. Leard also scored the game winner on Sunday, breaking a 5-5 tie early in the third period.
Grand Falls allowed 7 goals in two games, but still got some help from netminder Adam Lecours who face a total of 29 shots on Friday and 48 against Miramichi on Sunday.
There was however a new welcomed addition to the defensive corps over the weekend: Raphael Denis made his debut Friday night, showing his skills as a defenseman and alsocontributing offensively when needed, especially on the power play. Denis finished with 3 assists in two games and will most certainly be another veteran presence at the blue line.
The Rapids will hope to keep things rolling next weekend as they travel to Nova Scotia for a couple of games against the Valley Wildcats on Friday and the Yarmouth Mariners the following night.
With renewed confidence and a two-game winning streak, the Rapids will hope to jump up in the standings as they are currently tied for 4th spot in the division with the Fredericton Red Wings.
Patrick Thibault
TEAM NEWS AND STATS
*Jonah Leard leads the Rapids in scoring with 6 goals and 2 assists for 8 points in six games played.
Brayden Campbell is second in team scoring with 4 goals and 1 assist for 5 points while Jeremy D’Astous follows with 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points.
Two players share records of 2g 2a: Caleb MacDonald and Nicholas Brennan.
*Jonah Leard leads the league in power play goals with 4.
Grand Falls is third in the EastLink North with a PP efficiency of 16%.
*The Rapids are now second in the league in penalty minutes with 171 minutes.
Their penalty kill is at 78.3%.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:
*The Edmundston Blizzard, Summerside Western Capitals and Amherst Ramblers are the only remaining teams undefeated thus far. Edmundston and Summerside have identical records of 5 wins and 0 losses while Amherst has a 4-0 record.
The Truro Bearcats are the only team without a victory this season, having lost all five of their games thus far this season.
*Mathis Perron of the Amherst Ramblers leads the league in scoring with 5g 7a for 12 points. Perron also leads the MHL in game winning goals with 3.
*Rhyah Stewart of the West Kent Steamersleads all goaltenders with a goals-against average of 0.50 in two starts between the pipes. She won her second game of the season on Sunday afternoon, making 22 saves in a 3-1 victory over the Campbellton Tigers.
Simon Boucher of the Edmundston Blizzard has the second-best GAA average with 1.50.
THE RAPIDS UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
*Friday October 4: Rapids at Valley (7:00 pm)
*Saturday October 5: Rapids at Yarmouth(7:00 pm)