Photos: Turnbull’s Northern Photography
IROQUOIS FALLS, Ont. – Breaking open a tie game with four third period goals sent the Iroquois Falls Storm on their way to an eventual 5-2 triumph versus the Hearst Lumberjacks in a Sunday afternoon Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair at Jus Jordan Arena.
Striking shorthanded late it the first, Iroquois Falls opened the scoring as Connor Desbois sent Andre Cho through the Hearst defence and then while cutting to his right tucked a backhand by Lumberjacks’ starter Owen Bonthuis.
Tying it up four minutes into the second stanza, Hearst broke out on an odd-man rush, which allowed DonHeaven Veilleux to snap the equalizer over the glove of Storm netminder Justin Sullivan.
Picking up the primary assist on the play was Aiden Kalin, who extended a consecutive game point streak to eight in succession.
Still knotted at 1-1 into the third period, the Storm went ahead once more as they worked a puck free along the end boards that allowed Landon Trethewey to cycle his way in front and fire a shot by Bonthuis for his team-leading seventh tally of the season.
They then went up by two a couple of minutes later as Iroquois Falls broke into the Hearst zone and saw Ben Sherwin crank in a blast from the slot off a Jordan Mayo set-up.
A man-down marker from Lumberjacks captain Adam Shillinglaw saw him whip in a shot from the right circle past a screened Sullivan to get the guests back to within one at 14:15.
However, the Storm regrouped and put the game away late with an empty netter from Mayo and a Cho chance fired between the legs of the Hearst netminder after that to secure the home ice victory.
The result sees Iroquois Falls put an end to a five-game losing streak and raise their record to 5-9-0-0.
In defeat, the Lumberjacks fell to 8-4-0-0.