Jack Grant kicked out 38 shots and his teammates responded at the other end with some offensive flair as the Fredericton Red Wings toppled the Amherst Ramblers, 6-2 in Maritime Hockey League action.
Fredericton played without offensive stalwarts Zach Alchorn and Eliot Bergbauer, out with injuries, but went through both Amherst goaltenders including starter Josh Ward and his third period replacement, Mathias Savoie, who yielded two goals.
Declan MacEachern sparked the Fredericton offence with two goals. The rookie now has three on the season and was solid all afternoon.
Ryan O’Toole, Nathan Kelly, Liam Smith and Ethan Stuckless had solos for the Red Wings. Alex Pellerin collected two assists.
Robbie Burt had both Ramblers’ goals, all on the powerplay.
There were some offensive fireworks in the second period, but it was the Red Wings who scored three times and took a 4-2 lead into the third period, pulling away and salting it in the third.
The teams had entered the second frame deadlocked 1-1.
Kelly got the party started just 37 seconds into the second period and the Red Wings would push the lead to 3-1 when MacEachern scored his second of the season at 10:02.
Fredericton’s Brady Patterson had intercepted an errant Amherst clearing attempt and spotted MacEachern in the low slot. The rookie tipped a backhand past Ward for the two-goal edge.
Resilient Amherst came back, though, when Burt scored his second powerplay goal of the afternoon, tipping home a Caleb Rich snapshot past Grant jst 2:03 after MacEachern’s tally.
Fredericton responded late, restoring its two goal lead when Stuckless converted his 10th of the season on the powerplay. Stuckless went to the corner of the crease and re-directed a hard slap pass from Alex Pellerin from the point at 17:48.
O’Toole and Burt had traded goals in the first period, both goals coming in the last four minutes.
It was O’Toole who started the game’s offence.
Fredericton caps the four-game homestand on Thursday, welcoming Pictou County Crushers.
The Red Wings now have 34 points and remain third in the EastLink Division.
