Photos: Justin Cairns
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Two-goal nights from Copper Fredericks and Alex Povorozniouk, along with the first Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League shutout by Jace Knoerle, saw the Soo Eagles blank the Espanola Paper Kings 6-0 Friday in a penalty-marred contest at Pullar Stadium.
Striking shorthanded, Benjamin Pouliot scored in a seventh straight game for Sault Ste. Marie as he snagged a loose puck just inside the Espanola blueline then went in a fired a shot through netmider James Meredith, 13:05 into the first period.
Coming out hard to commence the middle frame, the Eagles tallied three times in the opening five and a half minutes to take control of the proceedings.
Fredericks made it 2-0 by pumping one top shelf from between the circles, with help from Lucas Caulfield and Povorozniouk, as the trio all ran point streaks to eight outings apiece on the tally.
Newcomer Nolan Nemecek then picked up his first point as a member of the Eagles by making a nice move around a defender then putting a feed in front to Ilian Danilov, who whipped it upstairs.
The home side added another at 5:24 thanks to Povorozniouk darting out from the end boards and stuffing one in.
That resulted in a goaltending change for Espanola, who saw Jack Helkie enter and go the rest of the way in relief.
Putting the game away in the third, Povorozniouk finished off a two-on-one with Fredericks, before the latter provided his club’s second man-down marker of the night to wrap-up the home ice triumph.
With an eighth straight win, the Eagles improved to 20-6-0-2 this season, while the loss sees the Paper Kings fall to 9-17-2-1.
