Timmins Rock forward Edan Etheridge lifts the puck up and over Soo Thunderbirds blue-liner Gianmarco Mastroianni and into the net during the first period of Friday night’s NOJHL contest at the McIntyre Arena. Etheridge’s fourth goal in six games in a Rock uniform help his squad earn a 6-5 overtime decision over the Thunderbirds. Photo by THOMAS PERRY /The Daily Press
Braedyn Cyr’s goal sent the 774 fans who braved Friday night’s bone chilling temperatures home happy
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
Captain Braedyn Cyr’s fourth goal of the season, 44 seconds into overtime, lifted the Timmins Rock to a 6-5 win over the Soo Thunderbirds at the McIntyre Arena, Friday night.
It was the first step toward what the Rock hope will be another lengthy winning streak after their string of 21-straight victories came to an end against the Powassan Voodoos, Tuesday night.
Cyr’s goal sent the 774 fans who braved Friday night’s bone chilling temperatures home happy.
“Maybe, but it was just another regular-season game for us,” the blue-liner said, when asked if the OT winner was the biggest goal of his Junior ‘A’ career.
“Obviously, I am happy to have scored it, but it was a great team effort all around.
“K-Mac (Kaeden McArthur) had the puck and he was circling around a little bit, working his tail off, won a great battle in the corner, put the puck on net and I got a lucky rebound and put it in.”
It was the 10th career goal for Cyr, who now has 64 points in 84 regular-season games.
He acknowledged playing three-on-three in overtime is a little different, especially for a blue-liner.
“You have to be active all around the ice, but you also have to be careful, choose your shots, know when to move up,” Cyr said.
Through regulation, it was a game of punch and counterpunch, with the Thunderbirds taking three one-goal leads through the first two periods and then the Rock pulling in front by a pair of markers in the third period only to see their opponents battle back to force overtime.
Aiden Atkinson’s 12th goal of the season opened the scoring for the Thunderbirds just over three minutes into the opening period.
But Edan Etheridge got the Rock back on even terms when he scored his fourth goal in six games since being acquired from GOHL’s Elmira Sugar Kings in exchange for a player development fee, on Jan. 7.
Gavin Killoran’s 13th goal of the season restored the Thunderbirds’ advantage in the second half of the frame.
Once again, the Rock battled back to tie things up, at 2-2, before the first intermission on Maxx Hamelin’s first of two goals on the night and third of the season.
The middle frame saw the Thunderbirds pull back in front, as Wyatt Groth netted his sixth goal of the season.
Hamelin’s second goal of the night and fourth of the season, a power-play marker, deadlocked the score at 3-3 heading into the second intermission.
Another power-play marker, Diego Da Silva’s 22nd goal of the season, gave the Rock their first lead of the night.
Thomas Beard then added his 15th goal of the campaign to put the Rock in front 5-3.
Vincent Bondy’s second goal of the season, a power-play marker, allowed the Thunderbirds to make it a one-goal hockey game.
Then, with Thunderbirds goalie Ryan Hicks on the bench in favour of an extra attacker, Atkinson scored his second goal of the game and 13th of the season with 15 seconds remaining on the clock to send the contest to overtime.
That set the stage for Cyr’s game-winning heroics.
“The boys put together a good effort tonight,” he said. “It wasn’t our cleanest game, for sure, but they battled hard. You have to give them credit. Coming back from a two-goal deficit is very hard.”
The captain acknowledged the importance of the victory, given the Rock want to begin another winning streak.
“It was super important and gives our boys a big boost of confidence,” Cyr said. “We know how good we are and we have games in hand on the first-place Greater Sudbury Cubs, but they don’t mean anything if we don’t win those games.”
Rock goalie Ayden Mullen stopped 29 of the 34 shots he faced to earn his 13th win of the season.
Hicks, who turned aside 22 of the 28 shots the Rock directed his way, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of the game were Cyr (one goal, one assist), Hamelin (two goals) and Atkinson (two goals) … The Rock went 2-4 on the power play, while the Thunderbirds were 1-5 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the McIntyre Arena was 774 … Friday night’s other action saw Voodoos battle the Greater Sudbury Cubs to a 4-4 draw in Powassan, the Storm double up the French River Rapids 4-2 in Iroquois Falls and the Soo Eagles tie up the Paper Kings 2-2 in Espanola … The Rock will return to action when they host the French River Rapids at the McIntyre Arena, on Sunday, at 1 p.m.
