Photos: Helene Rancourt
BLIND RIVER, Ont. – Ethan Pegg’s splendid rush up ice and eventual tally, coming early in the second period, proved to be the game-winner as the Blind River Beavers defeated the Timmins Rock 4-1 Saturday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League inter-divisional match-up at the Blind River Community Centre.
Beginning the scoring four and a half minutes into the contest, the Rock converted when Nicholas Frederick sent a feed over to Liam Wells, and saw him stuff it past Beavers’ starter Gavin Disano.
Countering a couple of shifts later the hosts supplied the equalizer off a quick breakout and featured Jesse Dupuis putting a cross-ice pass over to Trevor Zimmer, who lifted a rising shot over the shoulder of Timmins’ goaltender Patrick Boivin.
Knotted at 1-1 heading into the second stanza, Blind River went on top early as defenceman Pegg made a impressive dash up ice from his own zone, before darting into Timmins territory and making a couple of crafty moves prior to depositing the puck into the bottom left corner.
The man advantage helped the Beavers extend their lead at 12:09 when Michael Gallagher scored in his NOJHL debut as he finished off a redirection from the right side off an Evan Fraccaro point attempt.
Heading to play late in regulation, the Rock pulled Boivin for an extra attacker, however Fraccaro found a streaking Dupuis flying up ice where he calmly slid a low back hand into the empty net in the final minute to secure the victory.
With the result Blind River improved to 3-1-0-0 early in the season while Timmins suffered their first loss, as they fell to 4-1-0-0.
Highlight of the Night – NOJHL YouTube Channel
