BOUCTOUCHE – The Rapids suffered a tough loss on Sunday afternoon in Bouctouche as they were defeated 4-3 by the West Kent Steamers.
It was a power play goal late in the third period that made the difference in the final score.
The Rapids jumped to a 3-1 lead after twenty minutes of play but couldn’t hang on. They saw their opponents score one goal in the middle frame and another one in the third. Both teams seemed destined to play an overtime period, but a minor penalty for too many men on the ice for Grand Falls enabled the Steamers to play with the man advantage. West Kent didn’t miss the opportunity to score the go-ahead goal with only 1 minute remaining in the period, thanks to Damon Englehutt with his 13th of the season.
The Rapids were the most opportunistic team early on as they opened the scoring on the power play at the 2-minute mark of the first period. Raphael Denis’ one-timer gave the Rapids the lead.
West Kent tied the score at 5:29 on a goal from Samuel Masse, but only 13 seconds later, Brody Pare intercepted a pass in the Steamers’zone and sent a shot over the glove of netminder Olivier Dallaire. Then with under two minutes to play in the frame, Jack Brown scored his first as a Rapid on a slapshot from the face off circle.
Grand Falls led by two goals even though West Kent held a 14 to 7 advantage in shots on goal after twenty minutes of play.
Xavier Roy, on a power play, cut the lead to a single goal by scoring for West Kent at 15:27 of the second period.
The Steamers tied the score at 6:23 of the third period following an odd man rush into Rapids’ territory. Isaac Allard sent a shot that beat goaltender Loic Nadeau who had a great game between the pipes, making 33 saves.
The Rapids went 1 for 8 on the power play while the Steamers scored twice on five tries with the man advantage.
Caleb MacDonald had a pair of assists forGrand Falls. Xavier Roy was the leading scorer for West Kent with a performance of 1 goal and 2 assists.
Despite the loss, the Rapids remain in 5th spot in the EastLink North division standings with14 points, which is 1 point better than the Fredericton Red Wings. Both the Rapids and Red Wings meet on Thursday night in Fredericton for a 7pm start.
*3 STARS OF THE GAME:
1- Xavier Roy (WKS); 2- Loic Nadeau (GFR); 3- Damon Englehutt (WKS)
Patrick Thibault
Scoring
|
1st |
|
|
|
|
2:06 |
GFR |
Raphael Denis (4) ASST: Jeremy D’Astous (22), Caleb MacDonald (10) (PP) |
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5:29 |
WKS |
Samuel Massé (5) ASST: Xavier Roy (10), Damon Englehutt (17) |
|
|
5:42 |
GFR |
Brody Pare (4) ASST: Nicholas Brennan (9), Patrick Baxter (11) |
|
|
18:06 |
GFR |
Jack Brown (1) ASST: Jonah Leard (14), Caleb MacDonald (11) |
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|
2nd |
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|
|
|
15:27 |
WKS |
Xavier Roy (7) ASST: Damon Englehutt (18), Samuel Massé (11) (PP) |
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3rd |
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|
|
|
6:23 |
WKS |
Isaac Allard (4) ASST: Xavier Roy (11) |
|
|
19:00 |
WKS |
Damon Englehutt (13) ASST: None (PP) |