CAMPBELLTON, New Brunswick – Dominic LeBlanc took a rebound from defenseman Alexis Jacques to score the winning goal in overtime as the Edmundston Blizzard disposed of the Campbellton Tigers, 7-6, on Friday evening on Restigouche soil.
The game was divided in three parts. The Blizzard took a 4-2 lead in the first period, only to see the Tigers score four straight goals in the second. After 40 minutes of play, Campbellton led 6-4. Early in the third, the Blizzard went on a two-goal run to even the score at 6-6.
The Blizzard dominated the action in overtime, firing five shots to the Tigers’ one. Dominic LeBlanc, who had missed a great opportunity on a breakaway in the third period, bounced back in brilliant fashion to score the winning goal at 3:06 of overtime. It was LeBlanc’s 20th goal of the season.
The Blizzard’s number-one trio once again came up big with a total of 11 points. Félix Bédard (2nd star, 33rd and 34th) and Philippe Collette (24th and 25th) collected two goals and two assists each, while jérémy Fortin added three assists to his stats.
Jean-Alexandre Tétreault (2g, 1a; 1st star), Tysin Mulligan (2g), Mathis Guévin (1g, 1a; 3rd star) and Ethan Clements got the puck past goalkeeper Nicholas Sheehan, who faced 39 shots, including 21 in the second period. His opposite, Ben Williams, faced 45 shots.
Jérémy Ste-Marie (16th) and Carl-Anthony Massé (7th) also found the back of the net for the Blizzard (31-10-1-0), who remain three points ahead of the West Kent Steamers (29-10-2-0) at the top of the MHL’s Eastlink North division. The Tigers (15-25-2-0) missed a great opportunity to move closer to fourth place, occupied by the Fredericton Red Wings (17-20-2-3). With only ten games left to play, Campbellton trails Fredericton by seven points for the final playoff spot.
With 24 wins, Sheehan joined Francis Asselin for the most wins by a Blizzard goalie in a single season. Sheehan needed 33 games to reach that number compared to Asselin’s 35 in the Blizzard’s original 2017-2018 season.
As for Félix Bédard (34g, 46a = 80 pts), he needs three points to overtake Blizzard record-holder Olivier Coulombe (52g, 30a = 82 pts) for most points in a season.
The Blizzard play their next game next Friday (7 p.m.) in Grand Falls.
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Photo
Dominic LeBlanc ended Friday’s game with the decisive goal in overtime. Photo archives Percy Picard.
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Contact: Hugues Chiasson, vice-president communications – The Edmundston Blizzard; (506) 740-0623 – cell phone