IROQUOIS FALLS, Ont. – Ryan Hunter scored once and doled out three assists to help the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners skate to a 6-3 victory over the Cochrane Crunch Thursday night in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League neutral site exhibition game at Jus Jordan Arena in Iroquois Falls.
Jacob Hiltz got the Gold Miners going two minutes into the match-up with the lone tally of the first period.
Cochrane countered in the middle stanza with a power play marker off the stick of Delano Brown at 3:38.
Kirkland Lake regrouped however before the session was complete to go up 3-1 as Max Newnam and Hunter both found the back of the net.
The opening half of the third period saw each team strike twice with Nicholas Thibodeau and Newnam scoring for the Gold Miners while J.P. Moreira and Chris Innes replied for the Crunch.
Rafferly Chaney capped off the decision for Kirkland Lake with a man advantage effort to round out the night’s scoring.
Aiding the Kirkland Lake cause was Caleb Thompson who provided a pair of assists.
Cochrane did hold the edge in shots by a 42-40 count with Kyle McNair picking up the win in net while Zack Wickson suffered the loss.