NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013
All 8 NOJHL clubs in action Saturday
SUDBURY – A full slate of games in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League Saturday had Kirkland Lake, Elliot Lake, Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie all come away winners.
KIRKLAND LAKE GOLD MINERS 5 NORTH BAY TRAPPERS 3 – Samuel Wilbur had four assists to help power visiting Kirkland Lake past North Bay.
Dylan Rosen put the Gold Miners up early in the contest only to see the Trappers respond with tallies from Eric Champagne and Christina Sgroi to go up one after 20 minutes.
Kirkland Lake bounced back in the middle session getting markers from Steven Babin and Everrett Thompson to take a 3-2 lead after two periods of play.
The Miners then put the game away in the final stanza with Austin Rust connecting on the power play at the 35-second mark before Babin notched his second of the night midway through the period.
Henry Yawit added one in the final minute for North Bay to round out the scoring.
Kenny Fitzgerald faced 28 shots to record his seventh victory of the season helping his side improve to 14-2-0-1 overall.
Dustin Hummel had 46 pucks fired his way in a losing cause for the Trappers who fell to 6-12-0-4 on the season.
SUDBURY NICKEL BARONS 3 BLIND RIVER BEAVERS 1 – Michael Muzyka turned aside 33 of the 34 shots he faced to backstop Sudbury to the road triumph against Blind River.
The Nickel Barons jumped out to a two-goal lead after one period of play receiving efforts from Giovanni Foschia and Bradley Bell.
Sudbury then extended to their cushion with the only marker of the middle frame courtesy of Martin Jolicoeur with 5:59 left in the stanza.
Blind River would dash Muzyka’s shutout bid midway through the final period thanks to a power play tally off the stick of Jacob Boisvenue.
Matt Young saw 36 shots against in defeat for the Beavers who dropped to 4-14 on the year.
As for the Nickel Barons they jumped to 6-11-0-2 with the victory.
ELLIOT LAKE BOBCATS 4 ABITIBI ESKIMOS 3 – Brett Wagner’s second goal of the game with 1:35 remaining was the difference as Elliot Lake edged Abitibi at Centennial Arena.
The visiting Eskimos took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission getting markers from Ryan Wildman and Steven Petitte after the Bobcats’ Andrew Palushaj put the home side up 66 seconds after the opening face-off.
Wagner and Aviv Milner, on the power play, then put Elliot Lake in front before Shane Hiley leveled the proceedings for Abitibi before the session was complete.
The score stayed way until Wagner’s game-winner as he buried his team-leading 16th goal of the season.
Shots on net favoured the Bobcats 53-35 with Alex Bitsakis picking up the win and Brody Wagner the defeat.
SOO THUNDERBIRDS 3 ESPANOLA RIVERMEN 1 – League-leading Sault Ste. Marie continued to roll as they registered their 27th point out of a possible 28 in their past 14 games as they topped Espanola at Essar Centre.
Thunderbirds captain Gavin Burbach put the home team up 1-0 with the only marker of the opening stanza.
Burbach then set-up Nicolas Tassone for the lone tally of the middle frame to increase the T-Birds leads after 40 minutes.
Brandon Janke’s team-high 31st point of the season, which also knots him for the NOJHL lead, pulled the Rivermen to within one early in the final session, but Brett Jeffries ice it for the Sault with four minutes to go.
Gongshow Gear player of the month for October Joel Horodziejczyk won his eighth straight start to register the triumph for the Thunderbirds making 24 stops in total helping his side improve to 18-2-0-1 on the campaign.
Marc Terriault kept his club in the game as he saw 37 shots fired his way in a losing cause for Espanola as they dipped to 12-8 overall.
NOJHL action resumes Monday as North Bay hosts Blind River in a 7 p.m. start as West Ferris Arena.