EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – Now that the Blizzard’s regular season is over, let’s welcome the playoffs season!
The Fredericton Red Wings fought a great battle against the Edmundston Blizzard on Friday night and left the Jean Daigle Centre with a 3-2 shootout victory. The winning goal came during the 7th round. Noah Cauchi, the same player who got the team dead even late in the third period closed the lights by scoring the decisive goal during the breakaways.
Jérémy Duguay (6th) deflected a shot from Brock McLeod at 3:54 of the first period to give the Blizzard a 1-0 lead. The Red Wings replied thanks to Zach Alchorn )12th) at 12:28
After a second period without a goal, the Blizzard got their lead back at 13:37 of the third frame on a hard one-timer shot by Chrystopher Collin who scored his 39th goal of the campaign. But, 1:03 later, the Red Wings tied the score 2-2 through Cauchi (12th).
The two teams had 27 shots each. Goalkeepers Jack Grant (Red Wings) and Antoine Lyonnais (Blizzard) were solid. Cauchi (Red Wings, 1st), Collin (Blizzard, 2nd) and Ethan Stuckless (Red Wings, 3rd) were named the stars of the game.
The season-high attendance of 2,796 in Edmundston saw both teams play conservative hockey in overtime. The Blizzard lost for the eighth time in shootout on ten occasions. Edmundston will be relieved in the playoffs because shootout is not used.
With this 77th point, the Blizzard (34-9-1-8) beat its record of 76 points previously established in 2017-18. And with only 9 losses in regulation time, it is one lower than during the original season. All of this will be history when the Campbellton Tigers (29-17-3-2) and the Edmundston Blizzard clash in the first playoff round. In the other MHL Eastlink North Division’s match-up, Summerside (41-7-1-2) will play against Fredericton (27-19-4-1). The schedule of these series will be known soon.
Blizzard’s organization paid a vibrant tribute before the game to the seven 20-year-old players who are in their last junior hockey season: defensemen Tommy Bertrand, Alex Lavoie, Tristan Mercure and Evan White as well as forwards Chrystopher Collin, Tristan Gagnon and Brock McLeod.
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Photo
Chrystopher Collin ended the season with 39 goals, a team record. Shortly after his goal, he went for a little chat with goalkeeper Antoine Lyonnais. Photo Percy Picard
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Source: Hugues Chiasson, vice-president communications – The Edmundston Blizzard; (506) 740-0623 – cell phone