The Rapids were defeated on two occasions last weekend while on their two-game road trip in Nova Scotia. Their record now stands at 2 wins and 6 losses on the season, but the good news is that they are coming home for the next 8 games, starting this upcoming Friday as they host the Valley Wildcats at the E.&P. Sénéchal Centre.
It was against those same Wildcats that Greg Leland’s squad had a tough time getting by last Friday, dropping a 4-1 decision.
Grand Falls was penalized for a total of 48 minutes, giving their opponents 9 opportunities on the power play. Valley did score twice with the man advantage, including the game winning goal.
Nathan Rhodes scored the Rapids’ goal, his first of the season.
Saturday night in Yarmouth, the Mariners scored four unanswered goals in the middle frame, earning a 5-1 victory. The Rapids were penalized for only 10 minutes in the game while outshooting Yarmouth 40 to 25. The second period was not kind to Grand Falls who was behind by three goals before the mid-way mark of the frame.
Cole MacWilliam, with his second tally of the season, scored the lone goal for the Rapids.
Both Loic Nadeau and Adam Lecours saw some action between the pipes. They did well despite the circumstances, same for the rest of the team who had its strong moments. However, the offence only produced two goals which was very different than the 12 they had tallied in total during their two previous games.
Playing for the rest of October and early November at home, the Rapids will try to take advantage of the situation by picking up some precious points in the standings. They currently sit last in the EastLink North division standings, tied with Fredericton as they total 4 points each.
Patrick Thibault
TEAM NEWS AND STATS
*Last week, the Rapids traded forward Damian Metastasio to Notre Dame of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. They obtain in return future considerations.
In two seasons for the Rapids, Metastasio scored 5 goals while picking up 8 assists for 13 points.
*The Rapids also announced that former forward Colin Parker has joined the Dalhousie University Tigers.
The 21-year-old native of Newport Nova Scotia played in 48 games last season for the Rapids, compiling a record of 8 goals and 11 assists for 19 points.
*Jonah Leard still leads the team in scoring with a record of 6 goals and 2 assists for 8 points. He is followed by Brayden Campbell (4g 2a 6pts) and Jeremy D’Astous (1g 5a 6pts).
Leard is the co-leader of the league in power play goals with 4.
*The Rapids have a power play efficiency of 14.7% which is fourth-best in the EastLinkNorth division.
Their penalty kill ranks at 77.8%, which also puts them fourth in their division.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:
*The Edmundston Blizzard and Summerside Western Capitals remain the only two undefeated teams thus far this season.
Edmundston has a record of 8-0, having allowed only 15 goals in total.
Summerside (7-0) has scored a league-best 44 goals so far this season.
*Four players share the points’ lead with 14. They are: Charles-Antoine Lavallée of Amherst (8g 6a), Robbie Rutledge of Summerside (8g 6a), Mathis Perron of Amherst (6g 8a) and Brett Arsenault of Summerside (6g 8a).
*Rhyah Stewart’s 0.50 goals-against average still stands as the best mark in the league. TheWest Kent Steamers’ netminder has won her two starts between the pipes this season.
Simon Boucher of the Edmundston Blizzard has the second-best GAA average with 1.50.
THE RAPIDS UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
*Friday October 11: Valley at Rapids (7:00 pm)
*Sunday October 13: Campbellton at Rapids(3:00 pm)