TIMMINS, Ont. – The Hearst Lumberjacks rebounded with four third period goals to defeat the Timmins Rock 4-1 in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play Monday afternoon in front of over 1,200 spectators at McIntyre Arena.
With the result, the Lumberjacks end the Rock’s consecutive game winning streak at 12.
As it was the top two teams in the NOJHL’s East Division standings taking part, it was no surprise that play would be tightly contested from the onset.
Neither side converted in a scoreless opening 20 minutes thanks to each club’s defensive efforts and the goaltending of Hearst’s Ethan Dinsdale and Timmins’ Patrick Boivin.
It was much the same until deep into the second stanza when the Rock capitalized on a two-man advantage.
On the play, Nicolas Pigeon teed up Kenyon Nyman for a one-timer from the top of the left circle that clipped off a body and knuckled over the shoulder of Dinsdale at 17:44.
Answering with an equalizer in the opening minute of the third, Zachary Demers sent a pass towards the net that was jammed in by Cameron Shepheard at the 48-second mark.
Building on that, the visitors then went in front a few shifts later when Tyler Bortkiewicz broke up a play in the neutral zone, which helped Hearst to quickly send a feed up to Emile Pichette dashing down the right wing where he put a shot through Boivin.
Tacking on another right after the mid-period break, Lumberjacks’ centre Jett Mintenko scrambled the draw then kicked the puck up with his skate while spinning and firing a quick shot past Boivin.
The Rock pulled their netminder for an extra attacker with under three minutes to play, but Tyler Patterson secured the final frame comeback with an empty netter, which following that, sparked a couple of late-game melees that resulted in multiple infractions being called on both sides.
With the triumph, Hearst’s record moves to 35-11-2-0 while the Rock fall to 38-7-3-2 in defeat.
Game Photos:
Thomas Perry – The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
