MIRAMICHI, New Brunswick – Veteran defenseman Jesse Chamberlain starred on Sunday afternoon in Campbellton and played heroes by scoring the overtime goal, giving the Edmundston Blizzard a 3-2 victory as they extend their winning streak to nine, a team record.
Chamberlain first prepared in a masterful way the tying goal by Alex Arsenault, at 11:19 of the third period.
In overtime, the Blizzard began the rush from behind their net. Olivier Coulombe dropped the puck for Chamberlain who then passed to Jérémy Duguay who skated the whole surface of 200 feet. Duguay circled the net to hand it over to Chamberlain who moved towards the net, then unleashed a blistering wrist shot to beat goaltender Olivier Leclair on the blocker side.
The Blizzard showed a lot of character in the encounter. Trailing 2-0 to start the third period, the Edmundston players displayed tremendous efforts. Coulombe, who else, put the Blizzard on the board at 5:49 with his 16th goal of the season. He thus stretched his streak of games with at least one point to 11.
After a scoreless first period, the Tigers scored in quick succession with the man-advantage in the second period, at 10:36 and 13:09. Peter Stanger and Justin David beat goaltender Thomas Boucher, who had an excellent game. His 32 saves earned him the third star of the afternoon.
The 19-year-old Chamberlain obviously earned the first star of the matchup. The second went to Dawson Stairs (2 assists) who was all over the ice for the Tigers.
Alone atop the league
With this ninth win in a row, the Blizzard (15-10-0-1) now find themselves in first place overall in the MHL. With 31 points, they lead Campbellton (13-6-2-1) by 2 points in the Eastlink north division. Truro and Yarmouth, the Eastlink South division co-leaders, also total 29 points.
The Blizzard has just reached the halfway point of its 52-game schedule. Blizzard players turn the page on the month of November during which they had a record of 9 wins and 2 losses. Edmundston’s next game will be on Sunday, December 4 (3 p.m.) in Grand Falls.
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Photo
Jesse Chamberlain ended the game in overtime in Campbellton on Sunday with his third goal of the season. Photo archives Percy Picard.
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Contact: Hugues Chiasson, vice-president communications – The Edmundston Blizzard; (506) 740-0623 – cell phone