Miramichi beat Winkler in a shootout, lock into 2nd place in Group B

(Photo: CJHL)

The Miramichi Timberwolves completed their round-robin schedule at the Centennial Cup with a 3-2 shootout win against the Winkler Flyers. The victory locks Miramichi into 2nd place in Group B, so they’ll face the 3rd place team in Group A on Friday.

The bulk of the 1st period was fairly even as the teams traded chances. Winkler was finally able to solve Miramichi’s Adam Rouleau at 18:03 as Connor Jensen scored a highlight reel goal. The Timberwolves, however, responded quickly. After a penalty to former Bearcat and Lumberjack James Richards, Miramichi won the faceoff and Elliot Robert tipped in the tying goal at 18:57 with assists to Tim Porter and Jeremy Duhamel. Wasting no time, Justin David fired a sharp-angle shot just inside the near post over the shoulder of Winkler goaltender Malachi Klassen at 19:20 as the Timberwolves took a 2-1 lead to the dressing room. Nolan Ryan assisted on the goal. Shots were 11-10 for the MHL champions.

In the 2nd period, the team again were trading chances when Winkler got their first powerplay of the night and it took them just 53 seconds to convert as Jensen scored his second of the night. Shots were 13-7 in the period and the teams headed to the 3rd period tied 2-2.

The first half of the 3rd period was controlled by Winkler, who outshot Miramichi 16-4, but couldn’t beat Rouleau to take the lead to take the regulation win and the game moved to overtime. Miramichi killed off a late penalty in the 3rd period, but the game would proceed to a shootout.

In the shootout, Dalton Andrew scored for Winkler to take the early lead but Jeremy Duhamel, Miramichi’s third shooter, tied things up. Ludovic Dufort, the Timberwolves’ fourth shooter, snapped a quick shot by Klassen for the lead. Rouleau took things from there, stopping the rest of the Winkler attempts for the win.

Rouleau was named Miramichi’s player of the game, making 40 saves in the victory, in addition to four more in the shootout.