EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – Fresh and ready to start overtime, Félix Laniel once again played the hero when he beat goaltender Daniel Moody with a sharp shot at 3:06 to give the Edmundston Blizzard a 5-4 victory over the Miramichi Timberwolves in a game of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League played Friday night at the Jean-Daigle Centre in front of 1,393 fans.
The 6’5’’ giant of Mirabel, Que., scored his sixth goal of the season and a third game-winning goal, a league-high. Ironically, he spent the last ten minutes of regular play in the penalty box for a misconduct penalty. So, he had plenty of rest and time to visualize his efforts that were to lead the Blizzard to a sixth win in seven games this season.
Joshua Nadeau, who else, led Blizzard on offense by scoring two goals and an assist to bring his points total to 17 (6g, 11a), a league’s season high he shares with Tyler Boivin, of the Grand Falls Rapids. Boivin, however, played one more game than the young Blizzard sensation. Nadeau once again earned the game’s first star.
Jérémy Duguay had another big game with his hard-working performance which was rewarded with a goal and a masterful pass that led to Nadeau’s first goal of the game. Zachary Cadorette also scored for the Blizzard (6-1-0-0). Isaac Chapman ended up with two assists.
Kennedy Gallant (2g, 1a), Connor McGregor (1g, 1a) and Jérémie Jacob put the puck behind Marc-Antoine Bérubé-Jalbert, who has yet to be beaten in regulation in 13 games with the Blue and White. He shows a record of 11 wins and 2 shootout losses. Combining his stats with his previous team (Campbellton), Bérubé-Jalbert has a record of 16 wins, 3 losses and 3 shootout defeats for an impressive cumulative goals-against average of 2.55.
The Blizzard needed every little change to defeat the Timberwolves (5-3-0-0), a rugged team. After taking a 3-0 lead early in the second period, the Timberwolves woke up to tie the game 3-3 before Joshua Nadeau gave the Blizzard a 4-3 lead with 27 seconds left in the middle frame.
With the goaltender out in favor of a sixth player, the Timberwolves tied the game at 4 at 18:44 of the third period thanks to Gallant’s second goal on a two-man breakaway against goaltender Bérubé-Jalbert. Edmundston led 41-29 in the shots’ column.
The Blizzard return to the ice in less than 24 hours when they play host to the Campbellton Tigers on Saturday, November 28 at 7:30 p.m.
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Photo
Félix Laniel (right) begins the celebrations after scoring the winning goal in overtime. Defenseman Vincent Bujold is about to join him under the dejected faces of rearguard Antoine LeBlanc (32) and goalkeeper Daniel Moody.
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Contact: Hugues Chiasson, Edmundston Blizzard vice-president communications; (506) 740-0623 – cell phone