EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – A goal from Paul Leroux with 4:02 remining in the third period saw the Blizzard transform a 3-3 tie in a 4-3 victory over the Fredericton Red Wings in a game of the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) played Tuesday night at the Jean-Daigle Centre in front of 1,399 spectators.
The Blizzard returned on the ice after a 25-day break caused by the orange phase situation of Northwest Health Zone 4.
The least we can say is that the Blizzard got scared on Tuesday. After taking a 3-0 lead in the first period on goals from Zachary Cadorette, Dylan Lang and Joshua Nadeau, the Blizzard saw the Red Wings bounce back with three goals in a row, including the last two coming during the same penalty kill halfway through third.
Another strange fact is that 5 goals were scored while the Blizzard had a man advantage. Edmundston scored three times on the power play and allowed two short-handed goals.
On the sequence leading to the winning goal, Leroux first won the face-off to the left of goaltender Andrew MacLeod. The puck went to defenseman Ben Lightbody who took a wrist shot. Well positioned in the slot, Leroux deflected the puck that ended up in the back of the net. Jérémy Duguay was credited with the goal, but the replay clearly showed he didn’t touch the puck. For captain Leroux, it was a third goal this season.
Brendan MacRitchie, Patrick Brown and Declan MacEachern scored consecutive goals for the Red Wings who fired 42 shots towards Blizzard’s goalie Antoine Lyonnais who had a great night. Edmundston directed 35 shots at MacLeod.
Cadorette registered at least a point for 10 consecutive games, the number of games played this season by the Blizzard (8-1-0-1) who is now tied with the Grand Falls Rapids (7-2-0-3) at the top of the Eastlink North mini-division 1. Both teams have 17 points, but the Blizzard has two games in hand.
Named player of the month for November before the game, Joshua Nadeau has scored at least one point in his last nine games. His 10 goals are a league high he shares with Tyler Boivin of the Rapids and Bair Gendunov of the Truro Bearcats.
Rapids and Blizzard will face off on Wednesday, December at 7:30 p.m. at the Jean-Daigle Centre. The Blizzard has a slim edge in the Northwest Battle. Edmundston won in regulation time (7-3) and in shootouts (4-3) before losing 3-2 in shootouts in Grand Falls on December 4.
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Photo
Paul Leroux watches the puck propelled into the net by Joshua Nadeau during the Blizzard’s third goal in the first period. Leroux got an assist on this sequence before scoring the winning goals late in the game. Photo Percy Picard
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Contact: Hugues Chiasson, Edmundston Blizzard vice-president communications; (506) 740-0623 – cell phone