Great team win for the Blizzard in Grand-Bouctouche

GRAND-BOUCTOUCHE, New Brunswick – In front of the biggest crowd of the season at Grand-Bouctouche’s J.K. Irving Centre on Friday evening, the Edmundston Blizzard came out on top, beating the West Kent Steamers 4-1.

The Blizzard’s overall play was impeccable in a game punctuated by some fairly physical sequences between two great rivals from the Eastlink North division. The 1,706 spectators got their money’s worth in a hard-fought encounter of playoff intensity.

After 20 minutes of scoreless play, the Steamers struck first, at 9:16 of the second period, thanks to Lucas Byrne’s (18th) sharp shot in the top corner that gave goalkeeper Austin Caley, who was solid throughout, little chance.

With 2:05 to go in the second, the Blizzard evened the score thanks to a spectacular goal by defenseman Zachary Lessard (3rd), who came to support the attack and perfectly completed a three-way exchange.

In the third period, penalties came back to haunt the Steamers. Carl-Anthony Massé (14th) first gave the Blizzard a 2-1 lead at 4:13 following a lucky goal when he tried to put the disc back in front of the net. The puck deflected off a defender and continued its slow journey behind goaltender Olivier Dallaire.

Émile Fournier (30th) scored the insurance goal at 5:20 on the power play by grabbing his own rebound. Darien Thomson (6th) completed the scoring with the man advantage with 37 seconds remaining.

First star of the evening, Jérémy D’Astous was a constant threat up front. He collected three assists. Goaltenders Dallaire and Caley earned second and third stars respectively. The Blizzard dominated every period in terms of shots and finished the game with a 37-21 advantage.

The Blizzard (32-6-1-1) is the first team in the league to play 40 of 52 games. With 66 points, they are four points ahead of the Summerside Western Capitals (29-6-2-2). Edmundston and Summerside meet on Saturday at 7 p.m. on Prince Edward Island.

As for the Steamers (22-11-4-1), they were joined by the Campbellton Tigers (22-12-4-1) in second place in the section. Both teams have a total of 49 points, 17 behind the Blizzard and 4 ahead of the Miramichi Timberwolves.

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Photo
With his three assists on Friday, Jérémy D’Astous is fifth in the league in scoring with 21 goals and 41 assists for 62 points. Photo archives Percy Picard

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Source: Hugues Chiasson, responsable des communications – Le Blizzard d’Edmundston ; 506 740-0623 – (tél. cell.)