Rock goalie Graham Gee peers around Kirkland Lake Gold Miners forward Trent Nobes as he tracks the puck while Timmins blue-liners Tenzin Nyman and Braedyn Cyr look on during Saturday night’s NOJHL game at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex. Gee stopped all 28 shots he faced to earn his first career NOJHL shutout, as the Rock went on to blank the Gold Miners 3-0, snapping their three-game losing skid. ALLYSON DEMERS/FOR NOJHL NETWORK jpg, TD, apsmc
Photos: Allyson Demers
KIRKLAND LAKE, Ont. – Thomas Beard broke open a goalless game, 8:52 into the third period, to help send the Timmins Rock to an eventual 3-0 triumph over the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners Saturday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair at Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.
The opening frame featured plenty of pace from the two sides, but the efforts of Kirkland Lake’s Matis Bureau-Morel and Timmins’ Graham Gee between the pipes kept it without a goal after one.
In the second stanza, it was much of the same, despite a large edge in shots for the Rock as the contest remained scoreless through 40 minutes.
Timmins eventually solved Bureau-Morel at 8:52 of the third when Beard took a Lucas Lowe pass and fired a shot that managed to squeak through the Gold Miners’ netminder and slowly trickled across the goal line.
Adding some insurance while on a power play, Reece Liu whipped one in from the right side, off some crisp puck movement at 15:11.
Capping off the road result, Ryan Armitage scored into an empty net, from long-range, in the final minute to round out the scoring.
The shutout for Gee was his first in the NOJHL for the rookie netminder.
The win raises the Rock’s record to 11-7-0-0, while despite a solid effort, the Gold Miners fell to 2-15-0-2.
