Beavers defender Julian Young pushes Timmins Rock forward Kimani Eccleston into Blind River goalie Justin Sullivan — knocking the net off its moorings and sending it and both players spinning into the corner during the second period of Friday night’s NOJHL contest at the McIntyre Arena. The Rock went on to defeat the Beavers 7-1, securing their 15th-straight victory. Photo by THOMAS PERRY /The Daily Press
While the Rock dominated most of the action Friday night, the contest deteriorated into a bit of a slugfest and numerous points
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
Diego Da Silva scored twice — including a Michigan goal — to help the Timmins Rock dump the Blind River Beavers 7-1 at the McIntyre Arena, Friday night.
It extended the Rock’s winning streak to 15 games and pulled them to within a single point of the NOJHL-leading Greater Sudbury Cubs and they still have two games in hand on their rivals.
While the Rock dominated most of the action Friday night, the contest deteriorated into a bit of a slugfest and numerous points.
Rock forward Thomas Beard and Beavers forward Ellyott Dundas were featured in the undercard, 10:40 into the middle frame, with each combatant receiving five-minute majors for fighting and game misconducts.
Then, with six minutes remaining in the second period, Rock forward Kimani Eccleston was pushed from behind by Beavers defender Julian Young into Blind River goalie Justin Sullivan — knocking the net off its moorings and sending it and both players spinning into the corner.
That set off a rhubarb that involved every player on the ice, with the exception the Rock goalie Frédéric Cousineau, who showed the good judgement to stay in his end of the rink while the four officials attempted to calm things down.
When the dust settled, forward Ashton Beriana and blue-liner Jack Quevillon, of the Rock, and blue-liner Shea Crewson and forward Danny MacDonald, of the Beavers, were each handed five-minute majors for fighting and game misconducts.
In addition, Rock forward Matteo Paradiso received a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct and a 10-minute misconduct, Eccleston received a two-minute minor for goaltender interference and Sullivan received a two-minute minor for roughing.
Young, who initiated things, was one of the few players on the ice not to be sentenced to spend any time in the sin bin.
And, 35 seconds later, Rock blue-liner Ben Climenhaga and Beavers blue-liner Mattis Lafond tussled, with each getting a two-minute minor for roughing and the latter being assessed an additional two minutes for slashing.
The second intermission gave the two sides time to recharge their batteries, if not cool down, and 5:41 into the third period they once again renewed hostilities.
Rock forward Ryan Armitage and Beavers forward Zach Holeschek were the two main combatants this time around.
Armitage received a two-minute minor for roughing, a double minor for attempting to injure an opponent or deliberately injuring an opponent, a 10-minute misconduct and a game misconduct, while Holeschek was assessed a two-minute minor for roughing, a double minor for attempting to injure an opponent or deliberately injuring an opponent and a 10-minute misconduct.
In addition, Rock forward Evan Katic was penalized two minutes for goaltender interference.
Referees Eric Ouellette and Cole Ritz will likely need new notebooks for their next assignment after using so much paper to keep track of things Friday night.
The Rock dominated the opening period of the contest, outshooting the Beavers 18-7 but it took them 14-and-a-half minutes to open the scoring.
Nolan Masson’s second goal of the season got the puck rolling and blue-liner Matthew Kim added his seventh tally of the campaign just over a minute later.
Da Silva’s Michigan goal, his 13th marker of the season, increased the Rock lead to 3-0 five-and-a-half minutes into the middle frame.
For those who don’t follow hockey too closely, a Michigan goal is described as: A spectacular, lacrosse-style goal where a player scoops the puck onto their stick blade from behind the net and flings it into the top corner of the net.
“I picked up the puck off the wall and I was trying to find K-Mac (Kaeden McArthur), so I circled around but I didn’t see anything I liked,” Da Silva said.
“I had been messing around in practice a little bit with some of the guys, so I just thought I would try it and it worked out. I kind of faked back door and saw the goalie drop and I knew if I couldn’t get the puck on my stick I could at least wrap it around.”
For those keeping track, this is Da Silva’s second Michigan goal, as he had one in exhibition play, as well.
The first year Rock forward was playing on a new line Friday night, with Brant Romaniuk away with Canada East and Lucas Lowe nursing a lower-body injury.
“I got to play with K-Mac and Shin and we stuck to the system, stuck to the game plan and got pucks in deep and went to work,” he said.
Paradiso added a power-play marker, his fifth goal of the season, to give the Rock a four-goal lead heading into the second intermission.
The Beavers were finally able to get on the scoreboard 31 seconds into the third period when Ryder Hill deposited the puck into an empty Timmins net, after Cousineau misplayed it, for a shorthanded marker, his fifth tally of the campaign.
Maxfeld Shin got that one back for the Rock, eight-and-a-half minutes later, when he netted his seventh goal of the season.
Captain Braedyn Cyr added his third tally of the campaign for the Rock and Da Silva then closed out the scoring when he added his second goal of the night and 14th of the season.
“It was just an awesome pass on a broken play,” Da Silva said, describing how the play developed on his second goal. “Masson made an awesome seam pass and I picked the puck up, got my head up and saw their goalie was cheating short side a little bit so I decided to put it in far side.”
Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry would have preferred to have seen a little more discipline from his players when it came to the rough stuff but he was happy to see another W added to the winning streak.
“We just have to keep our cool a little bit, play with a little more class, in my opinion, but the guys played great tonight,” he said.
“We played really hard for the whole game. It was a good one.”
There was no shortage of individual players who make positive impressions on their coach.
“Obviously, Diego Da Silva had a big night for us,” Perry said. “He was real, real good. I thought K-Mac was fantastic, as well. I thought our D battled and did a real good job. I thought Freddy was solid between the pipes, real calm, real cool and made the saves he had to make. He didn’t want the shutout, I guess. Nolan Masson is a great player and we absolutely love him here. He is invaluable and he does so much for us. He has got skill and he can finish.
“Our whole group was really good. I liked everybody’s game.”
Given the number of injuries the Rock have dealt with this season, the coach was happy to see Paradiso return to the lineup, Friday night.
“He was good,” Perry said. “He served a two and a 10. I don’t know if it was deserved or not, which took him out of his game, but he looked really good tonight.”
Cousineau stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced to earn his 13th win of the season for the Rock.
Sullivan, who turned aside 36 of the 43 shots the Rock directed his way, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of the game were Da Silva, Masson and Kim … The Rock went 1-4 on the power play but allowed a shorthanded goal, while the Beavers were 0-6 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the McIntyre Arena was 825 … Friday’s other action saw the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners double up the Storm 4-2 in Iroquois Falls, the Lumberjacks top the Soo Eagles 6-4 in Hearst, the Powassan Voodoos blank the Rapids 7-0 in French River and the Soo Thunderbirds fly past the Paper Kings 7-0 in Espanola … The Rock will return to action on Sunday when they host the Soo Eagles at the McIntyre Arena, at 1 p.m.
