EDMUNDSTON, N.B. – The Edmundston Blizzard is the hottest team in the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL). And the Chaleur Lightning learned this the coldest way when they lost 5-2 to the Blizzard in front of another sellout crowd at the Jean-Daigle Centre on Sunday afternoon.
Led by an outstanding performance by goaltender Cédric Massé, the Blizzard extended its winning streak to six games.
The game started well for the Lightning (26-17-2-1), who scored the only goal of the first period, Zachary Rushton’s 20th, at 14:49.
The Blizzard continues to rack up success as games progress. And it was the same story on Sunday when they scored four consecutive goals, including two in the second period. Émile Fournier (19th) and Michael Derbidge (9th) scored on beautiful plays to give the Blizzard a 2-1 lead.
Michael Ward’s players wasted no time in delivering the coup de grâce in the third period when Darien Thomson (37th at 0:52) and William Labranche (30th at 5:11) put the game virtually out of reach for the visitors, bringing the score to 4-1. The Lightning gave themselves a glimmer of hope at 16:08 when Ben Cross (35th) narrowed the gap to two goals (4-2). The visitors went all out by pulling their goalie, but Noah Larochelle (17th) put the finishing touches on a great performance by the Blizzard, who ultimately won 5-2.
Goaltender Cédric Massé, who leads the league in four key categories (goals-against average, save percentage, wins, and shutouts), once again thrilled the crowd of 2,431 fans with his spectacular saves. The Rimouski native faced 25 shots and earned first star honors ahead of Fournier (1g, 2a – second star) and Thomson (1g, 2a – third star).
Goaltender Jack Flanagan, who also had an excellent game in front of the Lightning net, faced 29 shots.
The Blizzard (27-15-2-2 = 58pts) moved within one point of the West Kent Steamers (26-12-4-3 = 59pts) in the Eastlink North division, who still have a game in hand. Edmundston has only six games left to play before the end of the regular season, compared to seven for the Steamers. Chaleur remains in third place with 55 points, followed by Grand Falls with 54 points.
Next weekend, the Blizzard will play two games in Grand Falls (Friday, February 20, 7 p.m.) and Miramichi (Saturday, February 21, 7 p.m.).
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Photo
Goaltender Cédric Massé frustrates forward David Lebel on this great scoring opportunity in the second period. Massé made several other superb saves to lead the Blizzard to a 5-2 victory. Photo by Percy Picard.
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Source: Hugues Chiasson, communications – Edmundston Blizzard (506) 253-7741