ESPANOLA, Ont. – A Carter Drigo goal with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation held up as the game-winner as the Espanola Paper Kings edged the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 2-1 in a low-scoring Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League get together Saturday at the Regional Recreation Complex.
It was the visiting Gold Miners who supplied the lone marker of the first period when Tysen Anderson connected 13:14 in the contest as he chipped in a chance to the left of Paper Kings’ netminder Jack Helkie.
Action in the second stanza saw Espanola convert on a man advantage that saw Luc Warner roof a cross-ice pass over the shoulder of Kirkland Lake’s Glen McInnes for the equalizer.
Still tied into the third period, the home side countered in transition to break the deadlock as they came in on a two-on-one where Jason Galante dished a feed across to Drigo who neatly steered it in.
The Gold Miners did have a number of power plays, including a partial five-on-three, in the late going to try and tie it and force overtime, but Helkie held firm in net to secure the triumph.
With the outcome, Espanola improves to 17-10-0-1 overall while the narrow setback results in Kirkland Lake slipping to 9-16-0-2.
