ESPANOLA, Ont. – Striking three times shorthanded, and adding a trio more via the power play, was pivotal in a 7-0 victory by the Espanola Paper Kings against the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners Sunday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League afternoon affair at the Regional Recreation Complex.
The shutout for Espanola goaltender James Meredith was his initial one in the NOJHL.
Looking for their first win since back on November 9, Jack Anderson got the Paper Kings off to a good start when he notched his 10th tally of the season, three and a half minutes into the proceedings, by pumping a quick shot from the left circle past Gold Miners’ starter Mason Janicki.
Espanola then went up by a pair thanks to a shorthanded effort by Anderson after teammate Jason Galante pressured a turnover and worked it in front where it was snapped in.
Moving to the second stanza, the home side collected another man-down marker when Grant Booth was sent in alone and ripped a shot past Janicki at 4:31.
Special teams provided another for the Paper Kings after that as Grady Murphy clicked on the power play as he cranked in a blast from the left circle off a rebound from an Aiden Pethick point attempt.
Down a skater again, late in the second, Galante converted at 18:09 as he got in behind the Kirkland Lake defence and darted in alone where he cut to his right and slid in his chance to extend the home side’s lead to five.
Moving to the final frame, Espanola added a third on the man advantage as Luke Hill pumped a shot upstairs from the right side.
One at even strength thanks to a couple of nice moves and a finishing backhand off the stick Kaden Wicklander added to the onslaught in rounding out the scoring.
Returning to the win column, the Paper Kings raise their record to 9-15-2-1.
With the loss, Gold Miners dropped to 2-26-0-2.
