A pair of home wins highlighted the Tigers’ last weekend of play before the Christmas break. In a very rare Thursday night encounter at the Memorial Civic Center, Campbellton, with an impressive offensive effort, dumped the Rapids from Grand Falls 10-1. Fifteen Tigers made it onto the score sheet with eight skaters recording multiple points. Drew Toner and Charles-William Gagné led the way with two goals and an assist each while Dylan Coffey and Dawson Stairs each netted one and helped on two others. Rookie defenseman, Logan Kelly-Murphy notched a trio of assists. Game stars went to Kelly-Murphy (3rd), Stairs (2nd) and Gagné (1st). Tristan Gray stopped twenty-three shots for the win.
Friday night’s game versus the Aces proved to be a tougher test for Campbellton but they prevailed to record a 5-2 win. After battling the determined St. Stephen team to a 2-2 tie in the first frame, the Tigers and their rookie goalie, Isaak Pelletier shut the gates for the rest of the game. A pair of goals by Pascal Valcourt and another by Mitch Britton gave the home team their second win in twenty-four hours. Coffey and Pierre-Luc Lurette also scored for the Tigers. Valcourt and Lurette were first and second stars respectively.
In St. Stephen, two scores by Stairs gave the Tigers a two goal lead about halfway into the second period but a trio of powerplay goals by the Aces wiped that out. Gagné, with his third of the weekend brought Campbellton back but another pair of powerplay markers restored the Aces’ two goal advantage. A late blast by Lurette halved St. Stephen’s lead but that was as close as it got. Gray, who shut down the Aces when at even strength, stopped fourteen of nineteen shots in the loss.
The Tigers’ players, staff and organization will now take a breather during the Christmas break but then will shortly be back to prepare for the restart of the season on Friday, Jan. 4th when the Timberwolves journey to the Memorial Civic Center for a rescheduled game.
Merry Christmas, everybody. We hope to see you in the New Year.