TIMMINS, Ont. – Henry Brock collected a pair of first period markers to help lift the Timmins Rock to a narrow 3-2 decision over the visiting Blind River Beavers Sunday in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at McIntyre Arena in front of a season-high 1,087 spectators.
The game’s first goal came 12 and a half minutes into the opening frame as an unguarded Brock waited patiently in front before taking a pass and sliding it under Blind River goaltender Patrick Boivin.
Brock then bagged his second of the session after Riley Brousseau forced a turnover and set him up to zip a shot into the left corner to put the hosts up by two.
In the middle stanza, the Beavers struck with an early power play tally that saw Evan Fraccaro send a perfect cross-ice feed over to an open Jacob Kovacs, who promptly whipped in his fifth of the year.
Timmins got that back however when Nicholas Frederick neatly redirected a spinning Christopher Engelbert attempt from up high at 7:12.
Carrying the 3-1 lead into the third, Blind River cut into the deficit when Kovacs clicked on the man advantage for a second time on the day as he wheeled out of the corner and picked the short side on a partially screened Gavin McCarthy with 12 and a half minutes remaining in regulation.
Moving ahead, with one last chance to try and tie it and force overtime in the final minute, the Beavers had a late power play and also pulled Boivin for an additional attacker, however the Rock held firm in the final moments to secure the home ice triumph.
The win for McCarthy was his 21st of the season, which leads all NOJHL goalkeepers, as he helped Timmins improve to 30-7-4-1 overall.
It also moved them to within one point of East Division-leading Hearst while also having four games in hand on the Lumberjacks.
In defeat, the Beavers fell to 22-15-4-0.
Game Photos:
Thomas Perry – The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
