EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – A five-goal outburst by the Edmundston Blizzard in the second period paved the way for a 7-4 victory over the Miramichi Timberwolves on Sunday afternoon at the Jean-Daigle Centre in front of an energetic crowd.
The Blizzard takes a 3-2 lead in best-of-seven Eastlink North semi-final series of the Metalfab MHL Cup and will look to end the series on Tuesday (7 p.m.) at the Miramichi Civic Centre.
Peter Amanatidis was the star of the game with three goals including the game winner at 16:57 of the second period.
The Timberwolves had a 4-2 lead midway through the game. When Blizzard head coach Simon Olivier replaced starting goaltender Thomas Boucher with Samuel LeBlanc, the tide turned and the Edmundston players scored five unanswered goals.
In addition to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th goals of the series by Amanatidis (1st star), the other Blizzard goals were scored by Evan Gass (2nd and 2a), Alex Arsenault (2nd and 1a; 3rd star), Mitchell McLeod (2nd and 1a) and Philippe Collette (3rd and 1a). Tristan Fortin (3a), Anastasios Lazaris (2a) and Jérémy Duguay (2a) also contributed to the Blizzard attack. Marco Martin, who played a very inspiring and physical game, earned the second star.
The Timberwolves’ goals came from Mason Beck (2nd and 3rd), Jacob Santerre (6th) and Jérémy Duhamel (5th). The mastermind of the Wolves’ offense, Daryk Dubé-Plouffe was held scoreless.
The Blizzard dominated 47-29 in shots. Boucher allowed four goals on 13 shots. LeBlanc was perfect in 16 opposing shots and came through in critical moments.
In the Wolves’ den, starting goalie Ryan Knight was replaced by Jack Flanagan when the Blizzard took the lead late in the second. But Knight returned to the net early in the third period.
The Timberwolves took two-goal leads twice (2-0 and 4-2), but the Blizzard proved resilient and never stopped working. Miramichi led 2-0 after 20 minutes of play. The Blizzard turned the game around and took a 5-4 lead after two periods. The game resembled the outcome of the previous game in Miramichi when the Blizzard led 2-0 after one period only to see the Wolves score five goals in the second.
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Photo
Peter Amanatidis reacts after scoring one of his three goals on Sunday afternoon at the Jean-Daigle Centre. Photo Percy Picard
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Contact: Hugues Chiasson, vice-president communications – The Edmundston Blizzard; (506) 740-0623 – cell phone