The Edmundston Blizzard opened their 2025 Centennial Cup schedule with a 4-3 overtime win over the CCHL-champion Rockland Nationals in Calgary, Alberta.
The Blizzard came out strong in the 1st period and outshot Rockland 17-8 in the frame. Carl-Anthony Massé opened the scoring for the Blizzard at 7:10, which was followed up by a powerplay goal from Émile Fournier at 16:43. Nationals goaltender Benoit Forget made several key saves to keep his team close.
The Nationals had renewed energy in the 2nd period. Josh O’Connor scored on the powerplay at 4:41 to cut the Blizzard lead in half, but Marco Martin restored the two-goal lead at 5:46. Rockland’s Joshua Penney scored at 16:18 to make it a 3-2 lead for Edmundston after 40 minutes. Blizzard goaltender Austin Caley stopped 17 shots in the period as his team was outshot 19-10 in the period.
Rockland had the better of the chances in the 3rd period until late, but the Blizzard couldn’t put another goal on the board. Then in the dying seconds of the game, with the Nationals’ net empty, Jacob Charron scored with two seconds left to send the game to overtime. However, Philippe Collette scored just 43 seconds into the extra frame to give Edmundston the victory.
The Blizzard play their second game of the tournament at 3 p.m. Atlantic oln Saturday against the SJHL-champion Melfort Mustangs. The game can be viewed on hnlive.ca