It has been said that any Tiger win is a good win but Sunday’s result is evidence that some victories seem just a little better than others. When all was said and done, Campbellton battled back to erase a pair of deficits, stiffened defensively to kill a late penalty which carried on into the overtime and then exhibited skillful team play to secure the win and the two points.
The game started well for Campbellton with Joel Walker forcing the puck into the Blizzard’s net just past the one minute mark. Drew Toner started the play by carrying the puck into Edmundston’s zone and then setting up Jared Janke for a hard wrist shot from the left circle. The Blizzard’s goalie, Francis Asselin got a piece of it but the puck bounced past him and landed in the crease where Walker controlled it and banged it into the open net. About six minutes later, Sam King netted one for Edmundston and the period ended tied.
In the first half of the second period the Blizzard took the lead on a pair of goals by Logan Johnston but the Tigers were able to regroup and to cut the deficit in half before the next intermission. With the face-off to the left of Asselin, Janke drew the puck straight back to the top of the circle. Toner raced across to the puck and before any defender could react, fired a blistering wrist shot over the goalie’s blocker for his first goal of the season.
Toner struck again in the third frame to bring the Tigers back even. With his team on the power play, Francis Thibeault moved the puck up to Pierre-Luc Lurette who carried it into the Blizzard’s zone. Lurette circled back to the blue line and fired a shot at the net where both Zach Spencer and Toner were camped. Toner got his stick on the puck which then changed direction and eluded the goalie. Showing some determination of their own, Edmundston delighted their fans by notching another and taking the lead once more with less than five minutes left in the game. However, off the face-off at center won by Spencer, the puck was scooped up by the very speedy Tommy Callaghan. Shifting immediately into high gear, Callaghan headed up ice, blew past two Blizzard defenders and then, from the face off spot to the left of Asselin, fired the puck over his glove and into the net. The whole play which tied the game once again took a mere seven seconds. Both teams had their chances to win in regulation but it was not to happen even though the Tigers had taken a tripping penalty in the last minute of regular time.
For the first minute and thirty-eight seconds of OT, the Tigers had to dig deep while the Blizzard enjoyed the four-on- three man advantage but they managed to frustrate the potent Edmundston sharpshooters. With Isaak Pelletier stopping all that the opposition could throw at him, the Tigers took control of the puck in their on end. Off a face-off, Valcourt won the puck back to Thibeault who headed up ice and into Edmundston’s end. After crossing the blue line Thibeault stopped and waited for Valcourt to head for the net. As he did, Thibeault circled into the slot drawing the attention of the Edmundston skaters and goalie. But just as it looked like he was going to shoot, he passed across to Dylan Coffey who was alone in the left circle. Coffey’s shot into the empty side ended the game and secured the win for the Tigers.