ESPANOLA, Ont. – The Espanola Express capped off their weekend by going on to edge the Elliot Lake Wildcats 2-1 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League match-up Sunday at the Regional Recreation Complex.
The game was a tight-checking affair in the first frame as neither side would connect offensively in a scoreless opening 20 minutes.
Espanola would eventually strike in the second stanza as Lukas Lyszyk put the home side on the board at 12:56 as he notched his 17th goal of the season.
Heading to the third, the Express added to their lead early thanks to Mitchell Lee who added his 11th of the campaign.
Elliot Lake got one back in the late going of regulation to dash the shutout bid of Andrew Rocha in the Espanola net when Noah Minns connected for the Wildcats with 1:54 remaining as he finished off a man advantage chance.
However, that was the only one Rocha allowed to get past him as he finished 30 saves to earn his initial victory of the season.
Meanwhile Elliot Lake goaltender Dominic Boily made 31 stops along the way in the narrow defeat.