TIMMINS, Ont. – Timmins Rock captain Tyler Schwindt tallied twice, as part of a four-goal second period, which helped propel his club to a 5-2 triumph over the Elliot Lake Red Wings Thursday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest at McIntyre Arena.
A fairly evenly-played opening 20 minutes saw it remain scoreless thanks to the efforts of starting goaltenders Ryder Gregga of Elliot Lake and Timmins’ Gavin McCarthy.
Moving to the middle stanza though, the Rock found their quality scoring touch by striking four times in the session and open up a solid lead.
Dylan McElhinny started by making a splendid move while splitting the Red Wings’ defence, then using a quick deke before tucking a backhand through Gregga’s legs just 35 seconds in.
Four minutes later, Schwindt made it 2-0 off a similar type of tally with a dash up the ice and snapping a shot through the Elliot Lake goalkeeper.
Adding to their cushion midway through the contest, Harry Clark put the home side up by three, on a third-straight power move to the net, as he too put one through the pads of Gregga.
Capping off the frame with his second of the period, Schwindt ripped one into the left hand corner from close range as Timmins took control of the contest at 18:13.
In the third, Carson Cox tacked on a fifth goal for the hosts at 5:10 as he completed a crisp three-way passing play with Clark and Schwindt for yet another impressive tally.
Elliot Lake did dash Gavin McCarthy’s shutout bid six minutes later as Alex Antoine converted on the power play following some crafty stick work from Matthew Shulist that left him with a tap in into the open corner of the net.
The Red Wings did add one more in the late going as Brock McNaughton fired a shot from a sharp angle on the left side that clipped off a Rock defender and in to complete the night’s scoring.
With the win, Timmins moved four points ahead of Hearst in the race for first in the NOJHL East standings, with the Lumberjacks holding two games in hand however.
Game Photos:
Thomas Perry – The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
