NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
NOJHL COMMUNICATIONS
MEDIA RELEASE
Release Date: Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013
Trappers and Gold Miners skate to Wednesday wins
SUDBURY – The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League was featured on two fronts Wednesday as the North Bay Trappers edged the Sudbury Nickel Barons 3-1 while a short-staffed Abitibi Eskimos squad were humbled 17-1 at home by the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners.
NORTH BAY TRAPPERS 3 SUDBURY NICKEL BARONS 1 – North Bay got a goal in each period en route to the road triumph over Sudbury to move into sole possession of first place in the NOJHL standings, two points clear of the idle Soo Thunderbirds.
It marks the first time since the 2007-08 campaign that North Bay has been alone in first place in the league at any point during the season.
After Michael Rouleau gave the Nickel Barons the lead in the opening period, Tait Seguin replied on the power play for the Trappers at 12:14 to level the proceedings after 20 minutes.
The eventual game-winner also came via the special teams as Corbin Bean notched a man advantage marker in the latter stages of the middle session.
There would be no further scoring until the final 29 seconds of the contest as North Bay’s Trevor Hunt iced it by notching an empty-net effort.
Greg Dodds turned aside 29 shots to register the victory helping the Trappers move into top spot in the league as they improved to 29-7-3-3 overall.
Michael Muzyka faced 28 pucks in a losing cause for the Nickel Barons who fell to 26-15 on the season.
The same two sides meet again Friday, but with North Bay’s Memorial Gardens serving as the venue.
Game time is 7 p.m.
KIRKLAND LAKE GOLD MINERS 17 ABITIBI ESKIMOS 1 – Kirkland Lake struck gold offensively in Iroquois Falls on this night as they rolled in the romp over the Eskimos.
Nine different Gold Miners skaters registered three points or more on the evening led by Dustin Jesseau’s three-goal, four-assist performance.
It was also a big evening Tanner Lafrance who tallied five times for the victors and set-up another while Everett Thompson had a hat-trick of his own along with two helpers.
Steve Babin and Kyle Bishop both scored twice with Connor McNally and Jean-Michel Naud netting singles.
Daniel Morin dished out four assists for the Miners while Alex Perrault had three and McNally had a pair.
Chris Komma only had to make 16 saves to pick up the win as his club raised their record to 23-17-2-3.
It was a tough night for both Abitibi netminders with Jeremy Laux starting playing the first period allowing five goals on 13 shots in suffering the setback.
Jackson Winkler was in for the final 40 minutes between the pipes and faced 31 attempts overall giving up the rest of the markers against.
The defeat marked Abitibi’s eighth in succession as their record fell to 12-2-6-0-2 overall.
