PHOTOS: Petrah Joehl – Sudbury Light Event Photography
SUDBURY, Ont. – Alex Chewanish provided the lone goal of the shootout to lead the Iroquois Falls Storm to a 4-3 winning result versus the Elliot Lake Vikings Tuesday afternoon in Day 1 action at the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League Showcase at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex.
Countering in transition, Elliot Lake opened the scoring just past the six-minute of the contest and saw Garrett Nystrom finish off a crisp give-and-go with teammate Dylan Leslie, as he whipped in a shot from the right of Iroquois Falls starter Alexis Mongrain.
Getting that back, via the power play, Justin McKnight took a cross-ice pass and pumped a wrist shot from the right point, that sailed past a screened Matthew Vahramian in the Vikings’ net.
Moving to the middle frame, the Storm went ahead when Andre Cho was sent darting down the left wing where he fired a shot upstairs on Vahramian, for the lone tally of the period.
In the third, it was Elliot Lake’s turn to equalize as Noah Aboflan helped force a turnover then went in on Mongrain and put one short side for a man-down marker for the Vikings.
They then regained the lead midway through the period off a nice passing play that saw Liam Bridgeman steer a feed in front to Gavin McLenaghan, who was left with a tap-in for his fifth of the season.
Up a skater, Iroquois Falls drew level at 13:18 when defenceman Brayden Hindson slid in the back door and buried a Chewanish pass while cruising through the slot.
Staying even through regulation, the two clubs headed to overtime to try and decided the outcome.
Still without a goal, extra attempts were needed to get a result.
There, Chewanish was the only one to convert on a play where he cruised in slowly along the right side prior to neatly picking the left corner.
After Mongrain thwarted one final Vikings’ attempt, the Storm returned to their winning ways, improving to 4-5-0-0, with each of their triumphs coming either in OT or a shootout.
Elliot Lake did pick-up a point in the setback as their record went to 1-6-1-1 overall.
Vahramian’s contributions earned him player of the game recognition for the Vikings, while Chewanish did likewise for Iroquois Falls.
Player of the game nods went to Hendry and Garnhart.
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
