Sault Ste. Marie, Elliot Lake, Abitibi all win Saturday

NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
MEDIA UPDATE

Release Date: Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013
 
Sault Ste. Marie, Elliot Lake, Abitibi all win Saturday

SUDBURY – A trio of Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contests Saturday saw the Soo Thunderbirds edge Espanola 1-0, Elliot Lake sneak past North Bay 4-3 and Abitibi win for a second straight night on the road besting Blind River 5-2.

SOO THUNDERBIRDS 1 ESPANOLA RIVERMEN 0 – An Owen Headrick power play marker midway through the third period proved to be the only goal of the night as the visiting Thunderbirds edged Espanola.

Joel Horodziejczyk made 20 saves to register his second consecutive shutout for Sault Ste. Marie who won for a sixth straight time and 10th in 11 outings.

Griffin Strain suffered the hard luck setback turning aside all but one of the 32 shots he faced on the night for the Rivermen.

The victory allowed the 11-2 Thunderbirds to retake sole possession of top spot in the NOJHL standings, two points ahead of idle Kirkland Lake, with the Gold Miners holding two games in hand.

Espanola slipped to 8-5 overall in defeat.

ELLIOT LAKE BOBCATS 4 NORTH BAY TRAPPERS 3 – Andrew Palushaj notched the game-winner with 9:01 remaining in regulation as the Bobcats rallied to upend the Trappers as West Ferris Arena.

Following a scoreless first period North Bay’s Eric Champagne opened things up for the home side at 4:50 of the middle session.

Three minutes later Elliot Lake captain Kyle Rowe tied it to send the teams to the final frame knotted at 1-1.

Ryan Demyen connected on the power play nine seconds into the third to put the Trappers back on top only to see Brett Wagner answer right back for the Bobcats just over a minute later roofing a shot during a two-man advantage opportunity.

Jake Staples then gave the Trappers their third lead of the night, but once again the visitors answered back getting tallies from Wagner and Palushaj 44 seconds apart to pull out the come from behind victory.

Alex Bitsakas made 23 saves to pick up the win while Evan Cormier saw 34 pucks in a losing cause in the North Bay net.

With the victory Elliot Lake moved to 5-4-0-2 on the season while North Bay dropped to 4-8-0-3.

ABITIBI ESKIMOS 5 BLIND RIVER BEAVERS 2 – Ryan Wildman scored three times to help lead the Eskimos past the Beavers at the Blind River Community Centre.

Brady Clouthier and Erik Robichaud also found the back of the net for Abitibi, who won for the second time in as many nights.

Clouthier and Shane Hiley also had two assists apiece for the visitors.

Marc Pompei and Samuel Wilbur countered for the Beavers as they lost for a seventh straight game.

Sylvain Miron made 34 stops to secure the triumph in net for Abitibi while Dylan Knox faced 42 pucks in defeat.

With the win the Eskimos improved to 5-4-0-2 and Blind River dropped to 3-9 on the campaign.