NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
NOJHL COMMUNICATIONS
MEDIA RELEASE
Release Date: Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013
Third period surge sees Saturday go the way of Sudbury and Blind River
SUDBURY – Two Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League games on the schedule Saturday saw both the Sudbury Nickel Barons and Blind River Beavers use big offensive outbursts in their respective third periods to come away victorious.
SUDBURY NICKEL BARONS 4 ABITIBI ESKIMOS 0 – At Jus Jordan Arena Sudbury exploded four final stanza goals to break open a scoreless game en route to the triumph.
After none offensive production through the opening 40 minutes the Nickel Barons’ Brett Dusick struck for the winner 31 seconds into the third period as he struck during a man advantage opportunity.
A minute and 32 seconds later it was Giovanni Foschia who made it 2-0 Sudbury.
The onslaught continued shortly thereafter as Dusick replied once again before Michael Rouleau finished things up with a power play effort at 6:31.
Alex Laino stopped all 30 shots he faced to register his first shutout of the season improving to 8-1 in his last nine appearances.
Jackson Winkler started for the Eskimos and suffered the loss making 32 saves.
Jeremy Laux then stopped eight of 10 attempts he faced in relief.
Sudbury ran their record to 24-13 with the win while Abitibi fell to 12-21-0-2.
BLIND RIVER BEAVERS 6 SOO THUNDERBIRDS 3 – Blind River got a hat-trick from Corey McEwen and a 48-save from netminder Brock Crossthwaite to lead them to the home ice victory over visiting Sault Ste. Marie.
Cray Roberge staked the Beavers to the lead as he notched the only tally of the opening period, converting via the power play.
The middle session saw a total of five markers scored, including three by the Thunderbirds to knot the score at 3-3 after 40 minutes.
Darcy Casola had two of the tallies for the T-Birds while Adam Ritchie supplied the other. Brandon Warmington assisted on all three efforts as the trio combined for nine points overall.
It was McEwen who picked up both goals in the session for Blind River.
The third period saw Crossthwaite turn aside all 15 shots he faced while offensively Paul Muio fired the eventual game-winner with 14:54 to go.
McEwen then finished off his three-goal performance after that before Travis Jones wrapped things up with an empty netter in the late stages to round out the night’s scoring.
Joel Horodziejczyk finished with 28 saves in a losing cause as the Soo dipped to 25-8-3-3 on the campaign.
The Beavers moved to 10-22-2-4 with the win as they joined Abitibi in a tie for fifth in the NOJHL standings.
NOJHL action resumes Sunday in Elliot Lake as the Thunderbirds pay a visit to the Bobcats. Face-off is set for 1 p.m.
