CAMPBELLTON, N.B. – The standings in the MHL Eastlink North division remained unchanged following Friday’s three games involving the four teams vying for first place.
The Edmundston Blizzard won 4-3 in a hotly contested game in Campbellton, where the Tigers suffered their 20th consecutive loss.
The Blizzard can thank Justin Trottier, who scored the winning goal midway through the third period. The forward from Mirabel, Québec, received a nice pass from his linemate, Alex Thibault, and then fired a shot from close range at goaltender Samuel Quimper, who made the initial save. Trottier, however, grabbed the rebound to score his 12th goal of the season, which proved to be the game-winner.
The Blizzard opened the scoring at 15:30 of the first period when Darien Thomson scored his 40th goal of the season. With 7 seconds left on the clock, Alex Lavoie (13th) tied the game for the Tigers.
In the second period, the Blizzard took a 3-1 lead thanks to goals from Émile Fournier (21st, at 3:53) and William Labranche (32nd, at 9:13). But the Tigers cut the lead to one with a goal from Alexi Parent (14th, at 18:45).
The Tigers tied the game 3-3 at 7:09 in the third period on Lavoie’s second goal (14th). A little over two minutes later, Trottier secured the win for the Blizzard.
Olivier St-Onge was solid in goal for the Blizzard, as was his counterpart, Samuel Quimper. At press time, shots on goal were not available on the game’s website.
Lavoie (1st), Parent (2nd), and Labranche (3rd) were named the stars of the game played in front of 650 spectators at the Campbellton Memorial Civic Centre.
The Blizzard has two more games to play before the end of the regular season. On Friday, March 6 (7 p.m.), they will visit the Chaleur Lightning. The next day, they will host the Campbellton Tigers (7:30 p.m.).
After Friday’s games, the standings are as follows: Edmundston (64 points with 2 games left to play), Grand Falls (64 points with 2 games left to play), West Kent (63 points with 3 games left to play), and Chaleur (59 points with 3 games left to play). In the event of a tie, Edmundston would have the best record due to its significantly higher number of regulation wins compared to the other teams in its division.
For the Blizzard to secure first place, one scenario is that they must win both games and hope that West Kent earns no more than 5 points out of 6 by the end of the season.
NOTE – In his 50th game, Darien Thomson became the second player in Blizzard history to reach the 40-goal mark in a season. Olivier Coulombe scored 52 goals in 37 games during the 2022-2023 season. Chrystopher Collin scored 39 times in 48 games in 2019-2020.
– 30 –
Photo
Justin Trottier scored his first game-winning goal of the season on Friday in Campbellton. With 12 goals, he has surpassed his total of 11 goals scored in 2024-2025. Photo archives Percy Picard.
– 30 –
Source: Hugues Chiasson, communications – Edmundston Blizzard (506) 253-7741