COCHRANE, Ont. – Getting a three-goal effort from their captain Trevor Zimmer, and shutout goaltending from Gavin Disano, the Blind River Beavers went on to blank the Cochrane Crunch 12-0 Sunday afternoon in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest at Tim Horton Events Centre.
Blind River needed just 33 seconds to open the scoring when Zimmer, who was covering the point, moved in and whistled one over the shoulder of Cochrane netminder Marcus Ouellet for his ninth marker of the campaign.
The Beavers then tacked on another midway through the frame when Gavin Rocha left the puck for Jesse Dupuis who snapped it past Ouellet from the left side.
Extending their edge early in the second stanza, Zimmer notched his second of the day as he steered in an Evan Fraccaro pass while situated at the top of the crease.
Going up by four, Blind River defenceman Adam Ferreira sent a shot from the right point towards the target that was tipped in by Jack Robinson at 5:26.
A couple of shifts later, Caleb Minns made a nice cross-ice feed over to Rocha, who was left with plenty of net to shoot at, in depositing his 19th tally of the season.
Notching a fourth in the session, the visitors extended their lead after Joshua Thompson knocked in a rebound off a point shot.
Zimmer then finished off his hat trick after being left alone in front and snapping one by the blocker of Ouellet off a pass from Fraccaro.
Adding an eighth in the game early in the third, Robinson picked up his second with a spinning one-time from the high slot.
The Blind River power play then chipped in with Minns roofing a Rocha feed from behind the goal line.
Reaching double digits, Josh Tomasi blasted one in from the right circle.
Jake Kovacs and Minns then rounded out the romp to finish off the scoring.
The shutout for Disano was the first of his NOJHL career and his 24th win of the season, which was the second-most among league netminders in 2022-23.
The victory sees the playoff-bound Beavers finish the regular season with a record of 42-11-3-2.
As for the Crunch, the season-ending defeat saw them end their campaign at 7-49-1-1.
