SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – For a second straight outing, the Rayside-Balfour Canadians produced a third-period rally as they went on to clip the Soo Eagles 3-2 Saturday night in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League match-up at Pullar Stadium.
Following a scoreless first frame, Rayside-Balfour opened the scoring 28 seconds into the middle stanza as Brady Maltais notched his third overall with help from Matthew Dokis-Dupuis.
Answering that, Sault Ste. Marie drew level a few minutes later with Dominic Skrelja supplying his fourth to knot the affair at 1-1.
Then down a man, the Eagles went in front at 14:25 as Blake Vaca’s shorthanded effort put the hosts in front.
Trailing by a similar 2-1 score in the final frame at the Soo Thunderbirds Friday, the Canadians mounted another comeback on this night beginning with a Jett Leishman marker four minutes to level the proceedings.
They then finished off their latest rally, getting the game-winner courtesy of Zachary Hauseman with 5:13 remaining to pull out the road decision.
David Bowen made 22 saves to earn the win for Rayside-Balfour while Ryan Gilmore saw 34 shots in a losing cause for the Soo.
