EDMUNDSTON, New Brunswick – The Edmundston Blizzard fought a great battle against the Campbellton Tigers on Thursday night at the Jean-Daigle Centre, but it was not enough to beat their tough rivals who won 4-2 in front of 2,814 fans.
The Tigers, who now leads the series 3-1, took a serious option on the Eastlink North Division title. Game five of this Canadian Tire Cup MHL playoff series will take place at the Memorial Civic Centre in Campbellton on Saturday at 7 pm.
The Blizzard had a good chance to take the lead when Gabriel Vanier was awarded a penalty shot at 10:06 of the opening period. But goalkeeper Tristan Gray followed the moves of Vanier who tried to beat him to his left side. Less than two minutes later (at 11:56), Campbellton opened the scoring. Left alone, Maxime Charest beat Francis Asselin in the slot. The two teams did not score in the second. The Blizzard gave hope to its fans when Samuel LeBlanc tied the game at 3:12 of the third period. LeBlanc grabbed a loose puck in front of Tristan Gray’s net to push the rubber in an empty net.
The Tigers then took matter into their own hands. Dawson Stairs (7:05) and Jared Janke (12:49) made it 3-1. Towards the end, the Blizzard pulled out goalkeeper Asselin and Malcolm Arseneau found the back of the net with just 16.1 seconds in the third. With 5 seconds to go, Joel Walker closed the books by shooting in an empty net.
The Tigers led 36-25 in shots. Dawson Stairs (1st, Tigers), Francis Asselin (2nd, Blizzard) and Jared Janke (3rd, Tigers) earned the three stars of the game.
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Photo
Francis Asselin was once again the best player of the Blizzard on Thursday. He allowed three goals on 35 shots. Photo Digiphoto archives
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Contact: Hugues Chiasson, vice-president communications – The Edmundston Blizzard; (506) 740-0623 – cell