FREDERICTON, New Brunswick – Unbelievable! That’s the word that came out of the Fredericton Red Wings commentator’s mouth when captain Philippe Collette put the finishing touch to the Edmundston Blizzard’s greatest comeback in history, scoring on a breakaway in overtime to give his team a 6-5 victory, Saturday afternoon at the Grant-Harvey Centre in Fredericton.
The Red Wings (7-20-0-1) were in complete control of the game. When they took their foot off the gas, they fell apart. Credit to head coach Simon Olivier who, with just under six minutes to go in the third period, decided to pull his goalie. He had nothing to lose. The Blizzard trailed 5-2 and were awarded a man-advantage. But it took guts! And the Blizzard have scored their last three goals without a goalkeeper – a first for the Blizzard!
Will Allen (12th, 15:29), Collette (17:12) and Allen again (13th, 19:18) foiled goalie Mathieu Mongrain, who was having an excellent game up to that point.
It took Collette just 43 seconds in overtime to add two points to Blizzard’s record, giving them a 25th win in their 30th game of the season (25-3-1-1). Collette completed the game with two goals (16th and 17th) and four assists.
Justin Hébert (13th) and Émile Fournier (21st) scored for the Blizzard in the first period, which ended 2-2. Sam MacFarlane (9th) and Jackson Shaddick (7th) were the Wings’ scorers.
Fredericton followed up with three unanswered goals, from Keegan Juchau (4th) and Xzander Pierce (5th) in the second, then MacFarlane (10th) at the start of the third period.
As usual, the Blizzard dominated in the shots column (49-24). Sawyer Russell was the goalkeeper for Edmundston.
The record for most points by a player in a game for the Blizzard still belongs to Brock McLeod, who scored seven (3g, 4a) on January 11, 2020 in Miramichi. McLeod is the only Blizzard to have two games of six points or more.
For Collette, it was a third career overtime goal during regualr seasons, tying Alex Arsenault’s mark. With his six points on Saturday, the Saint-Antoine forward regained sole possession of first place on the MHL scoring list with 52 points (17g, 35a), three ahead of Dominik Godin of the Summerside Western Capitals.
Not surprisingly, Collette was named the game’s first star. With two goals and an assist, Allen was named second star. With two goals for the Red Wings, MacFarlane earned the final star. Hébert and Fournier finished the afternoon with a goal and an assist each. Carl-Anthony Massé provided an assist on the final three goals of the third period.
Curiously, the Blizzard’s last five games required extra time. Edmundston won four of those games in overtime, and dropped one in a shootout.
The Blizzard have just two games left before the holiday break, and they will be held at the Jean-Daigle Centre on Friday, December 20 (against Fredericton) and Saturday, December 21 (against Amherst). Both games start at 7:30 p.m.
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Photo
Philippe Collette, the man of great opportunities, gave the Blizzard a dramatic overtime win in Fredericton on Saturday. Photo Percy Picard
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Source: Hugues Chiasson, responsable des communications – Le Blizzard d’Edmundston ; 506 740-0623 – (tél. cell.)