French River posts first-ever shutout in blanking of Express

NOELVILLE, Ont. – Backed by the goaltending of Jean-Marc Brisson, who turned aside all 20 shots he faced, the French River Rapids posted their first-ever Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League shutout Saturday as they blanked the Espanola Express 3-0 at Noelville Arena.

Alex Paul got French River going midway through the first period as he collected his second goal of the young campaign.

A late man advantage allowed the home side to go up by two as Gregory Trudeau-Paquet connected on the power play with just six seconds left in the opening stanza.

The Rapids extended their lead 6:23 into the second with Jacob Romano finishing off the work Christian Gaudreau and Dakotah Woods.

Brisson and the rest of his French River teammates did the rest to keep Espanola at bay as they went on to match their win total of last season just five games into the campaign as well as notch that initial shutout.

Adam Scott was extremely busy in the Express net as he was pelted with 59 shots in defeat.

With the decision the Rapids, under new ownership and the guidance of first-year head coach Ken Strong, raised their record to 3-1-1-0 early in the campaign while the Express fell to 0-4.