EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – Rookie Joshua Nadeau dazzled the 1,427 spectators gathered at the Jean-Daigle Centre on Saturday night.
With a sparkling performance of three goals and two assists, the 17-year-old gave the Edmundston Blizzard a 7-3 win over the Grand Falls Rapids.
The Blizzard erased a 2-0 deficit to score seven straight goals. Paul Leroux (2g, 3rd star), Isaac Chapman (1g, 2a, 2ndstar), Félix Laniel (1g, 1a), Jonathan Desrosiers (2a), Zachary Cadorette (2a) and Jérémy Duguay (2a) also contributed offensively for the Blizzard (3-1-0-0, 6pts) who, thanks to the win, is now sitting first in the mini-division 1 of the Eastlink North division.
First star of the game, Joshua Nadeau became the 8th Blizzard player to score a hat trick since the team moved to Edmundston during the 2017-18 season. In all, 15 hat tricks were scored by Blizzard players. Kyle Ward, Gabriel Vanier and Christopher Collin lead the pack with three hat tricks each.
Antoine Lyonnais made 27 saves to register his first win of the season in front of Blizzard’s net. His opponent, Gio DiMattia faced 41 shots.
Matthew MacKay (2g), Drew Toner (1g, 1a), Kyle Foreman (2a) and Tyler Boivin (2a) were the top point getters for Grand Falls (1-2-0-2, 4pts). Fatigue may have played a role in the visitor’s camp who had traveled the day before to Campbellton and defeated the Tigers 6-2.
With four goals and four assists in as many games, Joshua Nadeau is fourth in scoring in the Maritime Junior Hockey League.
The Blizzard will get back at the Jean-Daigle Centre next Thursday by hosting the Fredericton Red Wings (2-1-1-0, 5pts).
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Photo
Joshua Nadeau waves to the crowd at the Jean-Daigle Center after being selected the game’s first star. Photo Percy Picard
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Contact: Hugues Chiasson, Edmundston Blizzard vice-president communications; (506) 740-0623 – cell phone