Timmins goalie Patrick Boivin gets his catching glove on a loose puck before Blind River Beavers forward Michael Gallagher can pounce on the rebound as Rock blue-liner Chase Longhurst looks on during Saturday night’s NOJHL contest at the Blind River Community Centre. Gallagher had a power-play marker in the contest, as the Beavers went on to dump the Rock 4-1. The two sides will face off at the McIntyre Arena on Friday, at 7:30 p.m. POSTMEDIA NETWORK
Photos: Helene Rancourt
The Timmins Rock tasted defeat for the first time in the 2022-23 campaign, dropping a 4-1 decision to the Beavers at the Blind River Community Centre Saturday night.
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
BLIND RIVER, Ont. – After having two players leave Friday night’s 7-1 win over the Crunch in Cochrane early due to illness, the Rock did not have too many healthy bodies in the lineup for their clash with the Beavers.
Still, coach and general manager Brandon Perry was not about to use that as an excuse for his team’s first loss of the season.
“It just wasn’t our night,” he said.
“It was just one of those nights where we couldn’t get it going.
“We were tired, just had no energy, no nothing, no jump.
“In the third period, we got a bit of life back. Played in their end all of the third. I don’t think they even got a shot on net until they got the empty netter.
“Still, it wasn’t good enough. We didn’t get enough traffic in front and their goalie (Gavin Disano) made a lot of saves.
“We just didn’t have it. It was one of those nights.”
Despite their sluggish start, it was the Rock who got on the scoreboard first Saturday night, as Liam Wells scored his second goal of the season 4:31 into the contest.
That lead didn’t hold up long, however, as Trevor Zimmer notched his first goal of the season less than two minutes later to tie things up at 1-1.
Ethan Pegg then potted what would prove to be the game-winning goal, his first tally of the season, 1:52 into the second period.
The Beavers added a little insurance just over 10 minutes later when Michael Gallagher scored his first goal of the season, a power-play marker to make it a 3-1 hockey game.
Iroquois Falls product Jesse Dupuis then iced the contest when he deposited his fourth goal of the season into an empty Timmins net with Rock goalie Patrick Boivin on the bench in favour of an extra attacker.
The Rock acquired Boivin, a Blind River product, from the Beavers in an offseason transaction.
“We just had too many passengers tonight,” Perry said.
“It is always the same guys going. Nicholas Frederick set up our first goal, just off some hard work.
“The rest of the guys just didn’t match his work ethic.
“It was just bad reads, stepping up when we shouldn’t have (stepped up), bad reads on a two-on-one. The puck ends up in your net.
“It wasn’t a good night for us, but it is early. There is no panic here. We get another shot at these guys on Friday.”
Saturday was the first game in five this season that Frederick (5, 4-2-6, 4) did not find the back of the net, but the Beavers also managed to keep the Rock’s top line — Brady Harroun (5, 5-7-12, 6), Nicolas Pigeon (5, 2-10-12, 0) and Lucas Piekarczyk (4, 0-2-2, 2) — in check, as well.
Disano turned aside 33 of the 34 shots the Rock directed his way to earn his second win of the season.
Boivin, who stopped 19 of the 22 shots he faced, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The three stars of the game were Pegg, Disano and Wells … The Rock went 0-3 on the power play, while the Beavers were 1-2 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the Blind River Community Centre Saturday night 109 … Saturday’s other action saw the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners rally to edge the Crunch 4-3 in Cochrane and the Powassan Voodoos fly past the Red Wings 5-1 in Elliot Lake. A contest between the French River Rapids and the Eagles in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., was suspended with 12:50 remaining in the opening period and the home side winning 1-0 due to fog … The Rock will return to action on Friday when they host the Beavers at the McIntyre Arena, at 7:30 p.m.
