CHELMSFORD, Ont. – A Josh Dickson goal 16 and a half minutes into the first period proved to be the game-winner as the Timmins Rock went on the edge the Rayside-Balfour Canadians 3-2 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League inter-division match-up Thursday at Chelmsford Arena.
With the initial power play of the night, Timmins opened the scoring midway through the opening period on captain Derek Seguin’s 11th of the season as he also ran a modest point streak to three straight outings.
Building on that, the Rock then tallied twice moments apart to go up by three.
After Tyler Schwindt made it 2-0 Timmins at 16:08, Dickson deposited the eventual difference maker moments after that.
Regrouping, Rayside-Balfour found their legs late in the frame and got on the board at 17:35, during a man advantage opportunity, that saw Gavin Brown bury his seventh.
The Canadians then added one more with just 11 seconds left seeing Giordano Biondi get the home side to within one after one.
In the middle stanza, things cooled off offensively as it was scoreless and saw Timmins carry their one-goal lead into the third.
It was much the same from there in the final stanza as neither side would connect as it went without a marker in the final 40 minutes.
Rock starter Tyler Masternak finished with 25 stops on the night in picking up the win as the Rock improved to 16-2-2-1 so far this season.
Returning to the Rayside-Balfour line-up for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign, goaltender Cameron Lamour saw 44 attempts in defeat as the Canadians dropped to 14-7-1-0 overall.
