Patrick Pellerin had a great game for the Blizzard on Sunday, He had two assists and earned the first star of the game. Photo Digiphoto archives.
EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – The Edmundston Blizzard struck early in the game on Sunday and doubled the Valley Wildcats by the score of 4-2, in a game of the Maritime Junior Hockey League at the Jean-Daigle Centre in Edmundston played in front of 1, 872 spectators.
The Blizzard took the lead at 2:30 of the first period thanks to Samuel Bastille who deflected a shot from Alex Lavoie. Patrick Pellerin also collected an assist on the first goal. Alexandre Jacob doubled the lead at 8:43 on a play prepared by Nolan Alward and Alexandre Bernier during a power play.
Valley, who was outshot 25-7 in the first period, responded through Matt Warner at 12:04 in a five-man power play. But Vincent Rioux’s goal at 17:29 literally knocked down the visitors. Pellerin and lavoie collected the assists.
At the beginning of the second period, at 1:03, Pierre Bourgoin put the game out of reach for the Wildcats by scoring a beauty, firing the puck in the top net. Jeff Akerley and Liam Leonard got the helpers. The Wildcats narrowed the gap to 4-2 with Brock McLeod’s goal at 7:43 but it was too late.
Francis Asselin blocked 24 Wildcats shot. Cole McLaren faced 48 shots from the Blizzard.
The Bastille-Pellerin-Rioux line was brilliant once again, scoring two of the Blizzard’s four goals. Pellerin (two assists) earned the first star, Lavoie (two assists) the second and Alward (one assist) the third.
The Blizzard (19w, 4l, 2otl) increases its lead at the top of MHL’s overall standings. With 40 points, the Blizzard is ahead of the South Shore Lumberjacks (18w, 6l, 1sol) with 37 points.
The Blizzard players enjoy a few days off. They will visit the Campbellton Tigers on Friday, December 8 (7:30 pm) and will play host to the Pictou County Weeks Crushers on Sunday, December 10 (3 pm).
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Contact: Hugues Chiasson, vice-president communications – The Edmundston Blizzard; (506) 740-0623 – cell phone