Gold Miners end Nickel Barons win streak; Eskimos edge Bobcats; Thunderbirds blast Beavers

NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

NOJHL COMMUNICATIONS
MEDIA RELEASE

Release Date: Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013

Gold Miners end Nickel Barons win streak; Eskimos edge Bobcats; Thunderbirds blast Beavers

SUDBURY – A triple feature in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League Saturday evening saw the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners put an end to the lengthy winning streak of the Sudbury Nickel Barons while the Abitibi Eskimos won on home ice over Elliot Lake and the first place Soo Thunderbirds rolled over Blind River in convincing fashion.

KIRKLAND LAKE GOLD MINERS 6 SUDBURY NICKEL BARONS 2 – The Gold Miners got a trio of power play goals to help them stop Sudbury’s winning streak at 10 while also running their own unbeaten string to four straight contests.

Jeremy Picard-Fister paced the Kirkland Lake attack by scoring once and setting up two others.

Steven Babin’s NOJHL-leading 10th man advantage tally opened the scoring early in the second period with Jean-Francois Sylvestre and Ethan Strong also notching efforts in the middle stanza.

Sudbury’s lone goal in the frame went to Giovanni Foschia.

The Miners put the game away in the third getting markers from Dustin Jesseau, Jonathon Dionne and Picard-Fiset.

Ryan Chretien had the other Nickel Barons goal.

Chris Komma picked up the win in net with Alex Laino facing 36 shots in a losing cause for Sudbury.

ABITIBI ESKIMOS 5 ELLIOT LAKE BOBCATS 3 – Zach Innes tallied twice in the third period to break open a tie game as Abitibi skated past Elliot Lake at Jus Jordan Arena.

The Bobcats snagged a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes on goals by Dustin Cordeiro and Tyler Newsome, which were sandwiched around a Ryan Wildman effort for the Eskies.

It was Abitibi’s turn to outscore Elliot Lake 2-1 in the middle period to knot the score at 3-3 after 40 minutes.

Aaron Kerr found the back of the net twice for the Eskimos while Cordeiro countered with his second of the evening for the Bobcats.

Innes then buried the game-winner with 8:01 to go then added an insurance marker in the late going to round out the scoring on the night.

Jackson Winkler picked up the win in between the pipes making 37 saves on the night. Thomas Graham saw 41 shots in a losing cause for the Cats.

SOO THUNDERBIRDS 9 BLIND RIVER BEAVERS 1 – Brandon Warmington had a pair of goals and picked up two assists to help pace Sault Ste. Marie in the romp over Blind River.

Matt Zalewski, Darcy Casola and Anthony Miller all scored twice apiece for the T-Birds with Nick Pastorious adding a single.

Tyler Brown had the lone goal for the Beavers.

Joel Horodziejczyk stopped all but one of the 31 shots he saw on the night in securing the victory for the Thunderbirds.

Joseph Lynch started for Blind River and suffered the setback making 30 saves while Brock Crossthwaite had 16 stops in relief.

NOJHL play resumes Sunday as North Bay hosts Abitibi in a 2 p.m. start at Memorial Gardens.