Seven months ago the Red River Mudbugs and St. Adolphe Hawks met in game four of the 2017-18 Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League final.

Those in attendance at the jam-packed St. Adolphe arena witnessed a tense and very well played one-goal game that went down to the wire and when the horn sounded, the celebration of a championship winning season started.

The two teams renewed acquaintances Thursday night in St. Jean and the first game between the Mudbugs and Hawks since Red River's 2-1 victory last spring definitely lacked the intensity of their previous meeting but the outcome was still the same.

Troy Lehmann had four goals and an assist and Skylar Klassen recorded a hat-trick as the defending champion Mudbugs defeated St. Adolphe 8-6 and improved to 2-0 to start the 2018-19 season.

"We came out pretty strong and fought until the end," said Lehmann. "They fought a little harder towards the end and came back but the boys didn't stop. They were resilient, got through and got the W."

Ashton Meilleur and Pierre Clement had two goals each for the Hawks who nearly pulled off a dramatic third period comeback.

St. Adolphe scored three times in a four minute span to tie the game at 6-6 but then watched Red River pull away with two goals in the final 90 seconds.

"We showed some good character," said St. Adolphe captain Alex Joyal. "We found our feet, found our speed and got the body going a little bit. All it took was one bad change and they capitalized and next thing you know we're down one with a minute and a bit left."

The Mudbugs won their first HTJHL championship last March and head coach Mike Funk knows there's a big bullseye on the back of his players hockey jerseys.

"That comes with the territory. Being the champs, everyone is gunning for you. We've been on the other side of it where we've gotten close and not been able to do it. We expect that and we embrace the challenge. We have lots of guys back from last years team. We hung up the banner last year and that was last year. This season started at 0-0 and we have to earn every win - just like we did last year and they understand that."