Campbellton nailed down another road victory tonight in Miramichi with a close 3-2 win. Even though the Tigers generated a number of good scoring chances in the first frame, they were unable to get anything past the Timberwolves’ able goalie, Tanner Somers until early in the second period. As they had in the first, the Tigers continued to apply pressure. Using his speed, Raphael Otis carried the puck into Miramichi’s zone. After stopping to set up the play, he passed to Drew Toner along the boards in the right corner. Spotting Zach Spencer unattended in front of the Miramichi net, Toner slid him a sharp pass. Spencer then turned, forced Somers to move and then coolly slid the puck through the five hole to give the Tigers the lead. It was Spencer’s first goal as a Tiger.
Also netting his first of the season was Joel Walker who doubled Campbellton’s lead at the 11:37 mark when the Tigers had a man advantage. On the play, Jared Janke outbattled the Miramichi defenders in the corner and moved the puck towards the front of the Timberwolves’ net. His pass was tipped into the air and Walker, showing great eye-hand coordination, batted the puck out of the air and into the top of the net.
About five minutes later, this time with Campbellton short-handed Coleton Perry picked up the puck in the Tigers end and headed quickly into Miramichi’s zone. With Pascal Valcourt breaking hard to the net, Perry out-waited a defender, and slid a perfect pass over to Valcourt who redirected the puck into the open side. This proved to be the game winner as the determined Timberwolves, in the third period, finally managed to get a pair past the very solid Isaak Pelletier in the Tigers’ net. However, after they had scored their second on a powerplay with about seven minutes to go, Pelletier frustrated all their further attempts to earn his first Tiger, MHL and Jr. A win.
For his solid play all game long plus scoring the winner, Valcourt was named the game’s first star. You can view the game sheet on the Tigers website by clicking here.