Timmins Rock goalie Frédéric Cousineau makes a save on a shot off the stick of Greater Sudbury Cubs captain Daks Klinkhammer during the third period of Sunday afternoon’s NOJHL contest at the McIntyre Arena. Cousineau made 39 saves to backstop the Rock to a 2-1 overtime win over the Cubs. It was the netminder’s seventh-straight win and the 11th-consecutive for the Rock. Photo by THOMAS PERRY /The Daily Press
It was the 11th-straight win for the Rock who were only able to dress five healthy blue-liners and were without key forwards Diego Da Silva, Kimani Eccleston and Matteo Paradiso
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
Brant Romaniuk’s goal 3:08 into overtime lifted the Timmins Rock to a 2-1 win over the Greater Sudbury Cubs at the McIntyre Arena Sunday afternoon.
It was the 11th-straight win for the Rock who were only able to dress five healthy blue-liners and were without key forwards Diego Da Silva (16, 12-8-20, 35; serving third game of a five-game suspension), Kimani Eccleston (13, 6-5-11, 20; recalled by the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves) and Matteo Paradiso (8, 4-2-6, 2; upper-body injury).
Eccleston was held off the scoreboard in the Wolves’ three weekend games, but went two-for-three in the face-off circle.
Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry was happy to see his squad earn the two points Sunday afternoon, but felt they were not at their best.
“I thought we were a little sloppy today,” he said. “What a grind. They have a real good hockey team over there and this was a real good hockey game.
“I don’t know if it was because they are so good and so quick on pucks, maybe we thought we had a split second more than we did, but we were just a little sloppy with the puck today. We turned too many (pucks) over, but what a game, what a win.”
It was a match-up of the NOJHL’s points leader, the Cubs, and the team with the best winning percentage, the Rock.
With the final buzzer having sounded, the first-place Cubs (18-6-1-1) now lead the third-place Rock (17-5-0-1) by three points, but Timmins has three games in hand on Sudbury and the second-place Soo Thunderbirds (17-7-1-1).
Perry noted the strategy for the Rock changed once the two teams entered overtime Sunday afternoon.
“In overtime, for sure, but I think during regulation, no,” he said, when asked if patience was the key to getting the upper hand on the Cubs. “We had a game plan and we got away from it a little bit, at times. I thought we were a little bit passive on our forecheck when we could have gotten them on the strong side and forced them back against the wall.
“We just went into control and kind of slowed things down and I didn’t like that.
“In overtime, you have to stay with your man, stay above the puck and when you get a chance, you have got to bury it.”
The Rock got on the scoreboard first Sunday afternoon, as Kaeden McArthur netted a power-play marker, his 15th goal of the season, shortly after the midway mark in the opening period.
But the Cubs were able to tie things up before the first intermission, however, as Nolan Newton scored a power-play marker of his own, his 23rd tally of the campaign.
From that point onward, the game turned into a goaltending duel, with Rock netminder Frédéric Cousineau and Matthew Vahramian, of the Cubs, matching each other save for save through a scoreless middle frame and third period.
“Frédéric was awesome,” Perry said. “He has been playing fantastic hockey of late and he was our best player tonight, by a mile.”
Cousineau lowered his goals against average to 2.49, fifth-best in the NOJHL, and took over the lead in saves percentage from his creasemate, Ayden Mullen, .927 to .926.
“We knew at the beginning of the game it was going to be a war on the ice,” Cousineau said, when asked if he was more focused than normal given the caliber of the Rock’s opponent Sunday afternoon.
“It was a great game. Their power play is very solid, but we did a good job on it and the boys played good in front of me. That made my job easier.
“It is a lot easier when I can see the first shot, so I can control my rebounds, if I let one out. If I let out a rebound I couldn’t really control, our guys did a really good job of clearing the puck, getting it to the forwards so we could go on offence.”
It is no secret strong goaltending is one of the keys to an effective penalty kill and Cousineau certainly provided that Sunday afternoon.
“During the second period, they had power plays back to back and I had to make a save on the blocker side that was really tough,” he said.
With Sunday afternoon’s victory, Cousineau has now won seven-straight starts — allowing just 10 goals in that span.
“I have been feeling good lately and the play of the boys in front of me has been helping a lot,” he said. “When they play good, it gives me confidence and I think when I play good, it gives them confidence. So, that’s good for the team.”
That confidence has translated into victories — 11-straight and counting.
“As soon as we step on the ice, it’s all about winning,” Cousineau said. “Even when we are not playing our best game, somebody always steps up (and we find a way to win). It doesn’t matter if we are having a good start or a bad start, anything like that.
Romaniuk, who sits third in the NOJHL with 22 goals, has been so consistent at putting the puck in the net this season his coach is starting to run out of superlatives to describe his play.
“I was screaming, I don’t know why K-Mac (McArthur) didn’t shoot that puck, the goalie was down and out and the top of the net was open, but he went back to him,” Perry said, describing the play on which Romaniuk netted the game-winning goal after taking the pass from his linemate.
“I think people are getting tired of me talking about Brant, but he keeps doing it (scoring goals). He keeps showing up for us. He is a special player, a special talent. I don’t know what more I can say about him.”
After trading William Lobanov to the Blind River Beavers in exchange for a player development fee on Nov. 20, the Rock are down to five healthy blue-liners and they have been logging a lot of ice time.
“Those five guys back there (captain Braedyn Cyr, Matthew Kim, Jack Quevillon, Zach Secord and Ben Climenhaga) have played a ton of minutes,” Perry said.
“They were really good. I just thought at times we were a little careless with the puck, iced a couple of pucks we shouldn’t have iced. They were tired and mental mistakes are going to happen, but they battled and gave us a chance to win this hockey game.”
Blue-liner Sam Gallagher has yet to make his 2025-26 debut, as he works his way back from an injury and Perry noted he is likely at least a week to two weeks away from returning to the lineup.
When Perry has his coaching hat on and he looks in the mirror he reminds his GM self of the need for more blue-liners, but to this point there is no news on that front.
“I am trying,” he said. “We are looking for a particular type of person to play in our program and we just haven’t had any luck yet.”
The Rock have six games remaining before the NOJHL’s Christmas break and the temporary roster freeze that accompanies that stoppage in action.
Cousineau, who stopped 39 of the 40 shots he faced, earned his 10th win of the season for the Rock.
Vahramian, who turned aside 35 of the 37 shots the Rock directed his way, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of the game were Cousineau, Vahramian and Romaniuk … The Rock went 1-4 on the power play, while the Cubs were 1-3 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the McIntyre Arena was 726 … Sunday’s other action saw the Powassan Voodoos double up the Storm 4-2 in Iroquois Falls and the Blind River Beavers edge the Thunderbirds 2-1 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. … The Rock will head out on a three-game road trip, with stops in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., on Friday, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on Saturday, and Blind River, on Sunday.
