Blizzard loses; will face Timberwolves in playoffs opener

ST. STEPHEN, New Brunswick – In a game that had no importance in the standings, the Edmundston Blizzard lost 4-3 in overtime to the hands of the St. Stephen Aces. This Maritime Junior A Hockey League’s game was played on Saturday in St. Stephen.

The Blizzard knows his opponent in the first round of the playoffs. Edmundston will face the Miramichi Timberwolves who lost 5-2 Saturday at home against the Summerside Western Capitals. Miramichi and the Campbellton Tigers finished tied for third place with 52 points, but the Tigers have one more win (24 against 23).

The playoffs in the EastLink North division will be Edmundston (1^st) against Miramichi (4^th) and Summerside (2^nd) against Campbellton (3^rd). In the South division, it will be Yarmouth (1^st) against Truro (4^th) and South Shore (2^nd) against Amherst (3^rd). The playoff schedule will be announced shortly.

Saturday night in St. Stephen, both teams played cat and mouse all night. The Aces took the lead and saw the Blizzard tied the score every time.

St. Stephen was ahead 1-0 and 2-1 after the first two periods. Trailing 3-2, the Blizzard tied the score at 3 with 5:46 remaining in the third period, thus forcing overtime.

Even though the Blizzard was playing without Logan Johnston, Alexandre Jacob and Nolan Alward, the visitors outshot the Aces by a huge margin, 50 to 19. Aces goaltender Jack Grant was solid in the net. Francis Asselin was the netminder for the Blizzard.

Pierre Bourgoin (10^th) and Kyle Ward (30^th) also scored for the Blizzard. Coulombe’s goal was his fifth of the campaign.

The winning goal belongs to Noah Holm. The other Aces to score in regulation time were Scott Gaetz, Evan White and Matt Berrigan.

The Blizzard will complete its 50-game schedule by hosting the Woodstock Slammers on Sunday at 3 pm at the Jean-Daigle Centre in Edmundston.

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Contact: Hugues Chiasson, vice-president communications – The Edmundston Blizzard; (506) 740-0623 – cell phone