BLIND RIVER, Ont. – A Mitchell Martin marker was the only one in the shootout as the Rayside-Balfour Canadians pulled out a 6-5 decision over the Blind River Beavers in a high-scoring Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest held Saturday at the Blind River Community Centre.
A frenzied pace in the first frame saw the two sides tack on five tallies in less than a 10-minute span, including three by Blind River.
The Beavers’ Christopher Mingus started the offensive barrage as he notched his first NOJHL marker at 4:38.
Rayside-Balfour then countered with a pair of markers courtesy of Gavin Brown to go up 2-1.
Answering that, Blind River then got goals from Lucas Adams and Devon Savignac to put the hosts up 3-2 through one.
Action in the second stanza saw each side pick up two more each to make it a 5-4 game heading into the intermission with Zachary Snow and Zacharie Griroux connecting for the Canadians while Savignac and Kyle Quinn countered for the Beavers.
In the third, the back and forth affair saw the visitors force overtime with 4:21 remaining thanks to Brady Maltais.
After a scoreless five-minute OT, extra shots were needed to decide the outcome.
There it was Martin who was the only one among six attempts to convert as he slid a low shot underneath Beavers netminder Jackson Hjelle.
Canadians goaltender Cameron Lamour made 35 stops, plus all three he faced in the shootout, to record the win while Hjelle had 33 saves in helping Blind River pick up a point in defeat.
