2026 Eastlink North Division Final
(3) Edmundston Blizzard vs (4) Chaleur Lightning
- Game 1 – Tuesday, March 31st, 7:30 p.m. – Centre Jean Daigle
- Game 2 – Thursday, April 2nd, 7 p.m. – KC Irving Regional Centre
- Game 3 – Saturday, April 4th, 7:30 p.m. – Centre Jean Daigle
- Game 4 – Tuesday, April 7th, 7 p.m. – KC Irving Regional Centre
- Game 5 – Thursday, April 9th, 7:30 p.m. – Centre Jean Daigle*
- Game 6 – Saturday, April 11th, 7 p.m. – KC Irving Regional Centre*
- Game 7 – Wednesday, April 15th, 7:30 p.m. – Centre Jean Daigle*
*if necessary
| Edmundston | Chaleur | |
| 30-16-3-3 (6th) | Regular Season Record (MHL Rank) | 31-18-2-1 (8th) |
| 4-0 vs West Kent | Semifinal Result | 4-1 vs Grand Falls |
| 5.25 | Playoff Goals For per game | 4.40 |
| 2.75 | Playoff Goals Against per game | 3.20 |
| 30.0% | Playoff Powerplay % | 31.8% |
| 88.2% | Playoff Penalty Kill % | 76.5% |
| Michael Arsenault – 4 GP, 4 G, 3 A | Playoff Top Scorer | Jack Hayne – 5 GP, 4 G, 8 A |
| Zachary Robichaud – 4 GP, 1 G, 3 A | Playoff Top Scoring Defenseman | Cohen McCallum – 5 GP, 6 A |
| Cedric Massé – 4-0-0, 2.82 GAA, .906 SV% | Playoff Goaltender Stats | Jack Flanagan – 4-0-1, 2.94 GAA, .895 SV% |
| 3-4-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record | 5-3-0-0 |
| Darien Thomson – 5 G, 5 A | Leading Scorer in Season Series | Ben Cross – 6 G, 5 A
Zachary Robichaud – 6 G, 5 A |
Previous Meetings
- September 19th – Edmundston 3 Chaleur 6
- October 30th – Chaleur 2 Edmundston 3
- November 9th – Edmundston 2 Chaleur 3 (OT)
- November 21st – Chaleur 5 Edmundston 2
- December 5th – Edmundston 2 Chaleur 6
- February 8th – Chaleur 2 Edmundston 3
- February 15th – Chaleur 2 Edmundston 5
- March 6th – Edmundston 3 Chaleur 6
Notes
- This is just the second meeting between these two franchises. The first was in the 2023-24 season, when Edmundston swept the then-Fredericton Red Wings in four games. The Blizzard are looking to return to the Metalfab MHL Cup Final to defend their league championship from last season, while the Lightning are looking for the franchise’s first-ever trip to the league final.
- Chaleur had the best record against Edmundston among the Eastlink North Division teams. However, the Lightning and Blizzard played three times in the final month of the regular season, with Edmundston winning two of them.
- This is a meeting of the top two scoring teams in the first round of the playoffs. Chaleur scored the second-most goals in the regular season and nearly matched their output against Grand Falls at 4.40 goals per game. Edmundston had just three fewer goals in the regular season than the Lightning, but averaged nearly one goal more per game in the first round against West Kent (5.25) than they did during the regular season (4.31).
- Jack Hayne leads the MHL in playoff scoring with twelve points in five games. He had two goals and an assist in each of the first two games against Grand Falls, with two assists in Game 3, another assist in Game 4, and three assists in the series-clinching Game 5. Michael Arsenault leads Edmundston with seven points in four games. He had a goal and an assist in Game 1 against West Kent, a hat trick in Game 2, and two assists in Game 4.
- Both teams had contributions up and down the lineup in the first round. Chaleur had sixteen players register at least one point. Despite playing one fewer game than the Lightning, Edmundston had fifteen players find the scoresheet.
- This will be another premier matchup in goal between MHL Goaltender of the Year Cedric Massé and Chaleur’s Jack Flanagan. The two netminders had nearly identical statistics in the head-to-head matchup this season. In six games against Edmundston, three with the Miramichi Timberwolves, Flanagan went 3-3-0-0 with a 2.99 goals against average and a .902 save percentage. In eight games against Chaleur, Massé had a record of 3-3-1-0 with a 2.97 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.
- Both teams were also effective at penalty killing in the head-to-head matchup. Edmundston was 5-for-35 (14.3%) on the powerplay against Chaleur, with the Lightning going 4-for-30 (13.3%) against the Blizzard in their eight regular season meetings. That’s lower than their overall percentages, which were around 21 per cent, and much lower than their round one powerplay percentages that were both over 30 per cent. It might be as simple as the team that can convert on special teams will come out on top.