BLIND RIVER, Ont. – The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League front-running Greater Sudbury Cubs made a statement against their nearest divisional rival Saturday as they defeated the Blind River Beavers 5-1 at the Blind River Community Centre.
It was all Greater Sudbury from the onset in the chippy affair as they tallied three times before the game was 16 minutes old.
Pierson Sobush helped force a turnover for the Cubs one their initial marker and put a shot high that beat Blind River starter Gavin Disano from the left circle at 7:56.
They then saw Miguel Renaud extend their lead at 14:31 as he was fed in the slot by Noah Kohan and promptly whipped in his fourth of the season.
Not done there, the visitors added another a minute and a half later off a Nicholas Toffoli effort as he banged in a rebound from in close.
That also saw a goaltending change for the Beavers as Charlie Burns entered in place of Disano.
Remaining 3-0 Greater Sudbury into the middle stanza, the Cubs maintained their pace and went up by four just 100 seconds in with Matthew Mazzota connecting off a faceoff as his effort from the left point went through a maze of skaters blocking Burns’ view.
Down by four in the third, Blind River dashed Noah Metivier’s bid for a second straight shutout with 8:52 remaining when Joshua Thompson backhanded in a chip across the crease from Gavin Rocha off a Henry Attard attempt from the right point.
Coming right back, the guests put the game out of reach on the next shift as Marshall McCharles capitalized from close range on a five-on-three.
The outcome sees league-leading Greater Sudbury improve to 21-4-2-0 overall while the Beavers dropped to 17-6-1-2 on the year.