ST. STEPHEN, New Brunswick – It is rare to see a team win by such a big margin and be dominated. That’s what the St. Stephen Aces did against the Edmundston Blizzard with a 5-0 shutout on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 594 spectators at the Garcelon Centre in St. Stephen.
The Blizzard, who played without Gabriel Vanier and Olivier-Luc Haché, both sidelined because of a light concussion, clearly dominated the pace of the game but could not push the puck through goalie Joey May who blocked the 40 shots against him. His counterpart, Francis Asselin blocked 16 of the 20 pucks he received. Another shot landed in an empty net when the Blizzard trailed 3-0 with just over two minutes left in the meeting.
Michael Johnson (2), Evan White, Ryan O’Toole and Liam Smith scored for St. Stephen (18-25-3, 39 pts).
Even though he had a perfect afternoon, May did not have to shine much in front of the Aces cage, the majority of Blizzard shots coming from a long distance.
The least we can say is that the Aces had the Blizzard number this season. St. Stephen won six of seven games between the two teams, including two shutouts.
Even though the game did not mean anything to the Blizzard who will finish third in the EastLink North division, Ryan Salvis’s team will have to regroup before if faces the Campbellton Tigers in the playoffs’ opening round. For sure, Edmundston will have to improve its performance on the opponent rinks. Blizzard has a 5-13-4-1 away record compared to 17-4-1 at home.
The Blizzard (22-17-5-1, 50 pts) will play its last February game next Thursday at 7 pm in Prince Edward Island against the Summerside Western Capitals (36-8-1-1, 74 pts).
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Photo
Goalkeeper Joey May picked up his second shutout of the season by blocking Blizzard’s 40 shots on Sunday. Photo archives Olivier Chiasson
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