SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. – A dream weekend for the Blizzard, who returned to Edmundston with two convincing wins over their Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) rivals.
On Saturday night in Prince Edward Island, against the powerful Summerside Western Capitals, goaltender Frédéric Cousineau stood up to the league’s top offense, making a series of key saves and consistently breaking the rival team’s rhythm. Inspired by his goalkeeper, the Blizzard registered a decisive 5-1 win.
Carl-Anthony Massé (15th and 16th) and Philippe Collette (23rd and 24th) led the Blizzard offense. Émile Fournier (31st and 1a), Jérémy D’Astous (2a), and Jake MacDonald (2a) also contributed to this important victory, which gives the Blizzard (33-6-1-1) a six-point lead over the Western Capitals (29-7-2-2) at the top of the overall league standings.
Cousineau unfortunately lost his shutout following a breakaway by Ethan Dickson (4th). The Capitals player received a pass while clearly offside at the Blizzard blue line. But since video replays don’t exist in the MHL, it was impossible to challenge.
The Blizzard were merciless on goaltender Niko Boudreau, beating him three times in the first period, forcing the opposing coach to replace him with George Gallant early in the second. Both teams took the same number of shots in the end: 38.
Unsurprisingly, Cousineau was named the game’s first star. The other two went to Massé (2nd) and D’Astous (3rd).
It was sweet revenge for the Blizzard, who had lost 7-3 to the Capitals on November 2 in Edmundston.
Simon Olivier’s men showed a lot of character on Friday (4-1 win in West Kent) and Saturday. Of all the weekends this season, this was undoubtedly the Blizzard’s biggest test.
Will Carroll, for one, was certainly relieved to be able to return to his forward role, having had to switch to defense since the end of November, a stretch of 17 games. On Saturday, for the first time, the Blizzard were able to count on a unit of six defensemen.
By avoiding overconfidence, the Blizzard will be able to breathe a little easier as they play their final 11 games of the schedule against teams in their division. And eight of these games will be played at the Jean-Daigle Centre. The Blizzard’s next game: Thursday January 30 (7:30 p.m.) in Edmundston against Grand Falls.
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Photo
Frédéric Cousineau was masterful against the Western Capitals on Saturday. Photo archives Percy Picard
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Source: Hugues Chiasson, responsable des communications – Le Blizzard d’Edmundston ; 506 740-0623 – (tél. cell.)