Timmins Rock forward Brady Harroun watches as the point shot he deflected clangs off the crossbar in behind Cochrane Crunch goalie Jake Dubinsky during the third period of Friday night’s NOJHL contest at the McIntyre Arena. The Rock went on to edge the Crunch 2-1 in a shootout, earning their first post-regulation victory of the season in their sixth attempt. THOMAS PERRY/THE DAILY PRESS
The Timmins Rock finally solved the mystery of winning games that go beyond regulation, edging the Cochrane Crunch 2-1 in a shootout at the McIntyre Arena Friday night.
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
TIMMINS – The Timmins Rock finally solved the mystery of winning games that go beyond regulation, edging the Cochrane Crunch 2-1 in a shootout at the McIntyre Arena Friday night.
Prior to the contest, the Rock had lost three games in overtime and two in shootouts despite having two of the top goaltenders in the NOJHL and some of the league’s best snipers.
Perhaps more importantly, the Rock (24-5-3-2) extended their point streak to 15 games (13 wins, one overtime loss and one shootout loss), while maintaining a one-point lead over the Hearst Lumberjacks (25-7-2-0) atop the East Division standings.
A shootout was required to decide Friday night’s contest in large part due to the 63-save performance of Crunch goalie Jake Dubinsky.
The Rock outshot the Crunch 29-3 in the opening period, but found themselves trailing 1-0, as Dubinsky shut the door again and again.
Rock goalie Patrick Boivin got most of Mathieu Roy’s shot with his catching glove, but the puck managed to sneak past him into the Timmins net for his fifth goal of the season.
The Rock were finally able to get on the scoreboard 1:29 into the second period, as Captain Nicolas Pigeon broke in all alone and slid the puck past Dubinsky for his 12th goal of the season.
With the score deadlocked at 1-1, neither team was able to find the back of the net in the third period, nor the five-minute three-on-three overtime session.
That set the stage for the shootout, with Crunch Captain Will Stewart going first and being denied by Boivin.
The Rock’s first shooter, Kaeden McArthur, beat Dubinsky to give his side the early advantage.
Boivin then stopped Liam Boswell, the Crunch’s leading scorer, but the Rock’s second shooter, Lucas Piekarczyk, failed to seal the deal.
But Boivin denied Crunch shooter Michael Leech, negating the need for an attempt by the third Rock shooter, and locking up the 2-1 victory.
McArthur, who had been foiled by Dubinsky numerous times in regulation and overtime, had a plan on his game-winning shootout attempt and he stuck to it.
“That’s my shot, I always go low blocker but in this case it was low glove hand (because Dubinsky catches with his right hand),” he said.
“I went quick backhand-forehand, then low glove hand. That’s my shot every time.”
Like most Rock players, McArthur was feeling a little frustrated heading into the shootout.
“I had so many chances today, but I just couldn’t bury them,” he said.
Dubinsky was almost unbeatable and it wasn’t just McArthur left scratching his head wondering what he had to do to get the puck past the Crunch goalie.
“He just stood on his head,” he said.
“He was just unbelievable. Usually we can get a couple by him quickly, but today he just made unbelievable saves.”
The last time the Crunch visited the McIntyre Arena, they were blanked 9-0 by the Rock, so McArthur wasn’t surprised to see Cochrane play such a solid game Friday night.
“They are a good team, they hang in there and they play hard,” he said.
“I watched the game they played against Hearst (a 6-3 loss in Cochrane) on Thursday and I knew they were going to come out strong against us.
“We knew we were going to have to battle hard against them, that it wasn’t going to be an easy win.”
While Rock assistant coach Erik Robichaud was happy with the way his squad outplayed the Crunch for much of the game, he admitted their shooting could have been a little more efficient.
“A lot of the credit has to go to their goalie,” he said.
“He played a good game. We were getting pucks on net but we could have had a little bit more traffic in front.”
Robichaud noted he was pretty relieved when McArthur was finally able to beat Dubinsky during the shootout.
“That was a really nice goal,” he said.
“I thought Kaeden played a really good game tonight. He was flying all over the ice and shooting the puck from everywhere.
“Our goalie, Patty had three really nice saves at the end, when we needed them, too.”
Given the struggles the Rock have endured during overtime and shootouts this season, Robichaud feels Friday night’s victory was huge.
“Once you get to overtime, those are big points on the line,” he said.
“It will give us confidence heading into future games.”
The assistant coach was happy with the play of most of his Rock players Friday night.
“I thought our D was moving the puck up really well,” Robichaud said.
“I thought Piesy (Piekarczyk) and Pige (Pigeon) had really good games, as always.
“It was kind of just like an all-around effort. Every line was going and I really liked our effort tonight.”
Like McArthur, Robichaud wasn’t surprised at how well the Crunch played Friday night.
“You can tell they are a team that puts in the work and that they are playing for keeps, for points,” he said.
“After that 9-0 game, we had to know they were going to come back and answer with something, like they did tonight. I thought they played a good game.”
Cochrane coach Tom Nickolau was once again pleased with the play of Dubinsky in the Crunch net.
“Jake has been incredible all year and we expect it from him,” he said.
“Obviously, the No. 1 player on the ice for either team was our goalie, Jake Dubinsky. He was just phenomenal, especially since he was just coming off an injury and hadn’t played in eight days.
“Today’s game was exceptional, but you also have to give credit to our players who were blocking shots, playing our system and working hard for 65 minutes.”
Nickolau is pleased with the way the Crunch have been playing of late.
“We played great Thursday night against Hearst and we played tonight with three-and-a-half defencemen,” he said.
“We started with five, one got hurt (Xavier Brooks) and one played injured and we had a forward playing back, so I give the guys credit for sucking it up, blocking shots and just skating hard for 65 minutes.
“Our last three games, if we played that kind of system, that kind of hockey, we can compete with every single team, be successful and get into the playoffs.
“If we can play like this, we will win playoff games.”
Boivin stopped 11 of the 12 shots he faced to earn his 15th win of the season.
Dubinsky, who turned aside 63 of the 64 shots the Rock directed his way, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of the game were Dubinsky, McArthur and Pigeon … The Rock went 0-5 on the power play, while the Crunch were 0-2 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the McIntyre Arena was 751 … Friday’s other action saw the Hearst Lumberjacks thump the Gold Miners 7-1 in Kirkland Lake, the Voodoos edge the Espanola Paper Kings 2-1 in Powassan, the Greater Sudbury Cubs beat the Rapids 4-1 in French River and the Blind River Beavers defeat the Red Wings 5-1 in Elliot Lake … The Rock’s next home game, against the Hearst Lumberjacks, at the McIntyre Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at 7 p.m., will feature the annual toque and mitten toss sponsored by Discover Fitness, in conjunction with Living Space.
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
