Viel completes epic comeback in OT versus Wildcats
Bathurst, NB, Saturday, February 13th, 2016 – On Valentine’s Day eve, New Brunswick’s two eternal rivals faced-off as the Moncton Wildcats were hosted by the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. And in a game well worthy of the title of “rival”, the Titan skated away with a four to three overtime victory.
“What a comeback!” Those were the words on every Titan fans’ lips as they were exiting the K.C. Irving Regional Centre. Indeed, despite a 1-3 deficit with less than a minute remaining to the third period, the Titan managed to use the last forty-eight seconds of play to score two goals, sending the game into overtime. Mario Pouliot’s men then took full advantage of a thunderous crowd, scoring the winning goal after a mere twenty-five seconds of additional play.
Jordan Maher scored the Titan’s two first goals of the game, while Mark Trickett and Jeffrey Viel scored the last two. For the Wildcats, William Bower, Cameron Askew and Cody Donaghey each found the back of the net.
Between the pipes, Blade Mann-Dixon made 20 saves for Moncton, while Reilly Pickard turned away 24 shots in the Titan net.
Always giving Maher!
Armed with a wrist shot that has laser like precision, Jordan Maher completed his night with two goals on two shots on net. It must be mentioned that both his goals were nearly identical, as on both occasion, Maher seized the puck on the goaltender’s right and fired his wrist shot while his team was playing with the man advantage.
Maher has proven to be quite the asset for the Titan power play, as the 17 year-old forward has scored nine of his 14 goals while his team had the extra skater.
Pesky Viel
What can be said about Jeffrey Viel that hasn’t already been said countless times? The Titan’s number 25 completed the game with one goal, two assists, five shots on net, including two taken from the danger zone, as well as four body checks, a team high.
There may not be another player in the league that can fill a scoresheet quite like Viel can.
Trickett the trickster
With a goal and two assists on the night, Titan defenseman Mark Trickett has now picked up 30 points in 47 games this season, by far his best season in the league. Playing on a pairing with Félix Boivin, both defensemen have proven to be skilled with the puck, allowing them to create quality shots on net both for themselves and their teammates.
Retro weekend
The Titan will now have a week to rest up and get ready for their next opponent, as Daniel Audette and the Sherbrooke Phoenix will make their way to northern New Brunswick on Friday, February 19th. The game will be a themed “80’s night”, for which the Titan are preparing a few surprises for their fans.
The Titan will then play host to the Quebec Remparts on Sunday, February 21st in what will be “90’s night” inside the Generation Hockey home. Fans will be able to take advantage of a promotion offering one adult and two child tickets for $19.99.
90’s night for $19.99, as easy to remember as it gets.
$10,000 to the winning seat
Once more, the total sum for the winning seat will be at $10,000 should attendance be at or above 2,500 fans.
Tickets are available at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre box office, by phone at 549-3200 or 1-877-549-3200 or online at admission.com
Game notes
Acadie-Bathurst Titan line combinations
Jeffrey Viel – Mark Simpson – Daniil Miromanov
Christophe Boivin – Jordan Maher – Vladimir Kuznetsov
Dawson Theede – Samuel L’Italien – Egor Popov
Jason Bell – Cole Rafuse
Garrett Johnston – Guillaume Brisebois
Mark Trickett – Félix Boivin
Nicolas Dumulong – Francis Thibeault
Reilly Pickard
Tanner Somers
Players not in uniform: Antoine Morand, Nicholas Blanchard, Jake Barter, Emanuel Aucoin, Marc Audet & Elijah Francis
Power Play
Moncton: 1/5
Acadie-Bathurst: 2/4
Face-offs won
Moncton: 24
Acadie-Bathurst: 33
Body checks
Moncton: 12
Acadie-Bathurst: 17
