The Timmins Rock wrapped up a busy weekend of NOJHL action with a 6-2 win over the French River Rapids at the Archie Dillon Sportsplex Sunday afternoon.
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
It came in the wake of a 3-0 win over the Gold Miners in Kirkland Lake Saturday night and a 3-1 setback at the hands of the NOJHL-leading Greater Sudbury Cubs at the Archie Dillon Sportsplex Friday night.
With four of a possible six points on the weekend, the Rock (12-7-0-0) find themselves in fourth place in the 12-team NOJHL standings — one point behind the Blind River Beavers (12-7-1-0) and one point ahead of the Soo Eagles (11-6-0-1).
Even though the Rock dropped Friday night’s game against the Cubs, coach and general manager Brandon Perry thought that was his clubs best effort in the trio of weekend contests.
“Our effort and our attention to detail was really good, aside from a terrible bounce, it was a 1-1 hockey game against a really good hockey team,” he said.
“I liked how engaged we were on our matchups and how motivated we were to play well. I really liked our game Saturday night, as well. Our urgency was at an all-time high, obviously, because we really needed to get back in the win column. Even when things weren’t going our way, I liked the way we pushed the pace. We kept working and finally got one in the third period.
“Today, was just what you would expect out of a Sunday matinee, third game in three days for both teams, a little sloppy, with not a lot of effort to start, then things got a little exciting in the third period.
“We have a long way to go as a group, but we needed the four points and we got them, so we need to move on to the next one.”
Indeed, a number of fights broke out within a couple of minutes of each other midway through that frame.
The Rock coach was pleased to see his squad give up just five goals during the three games on the weekend, with one of those being an empty-netter at the end of Friday night’s contest.
“We are extremely confident with both of our guys in net (Dryden Riley and Graham Gee),” Perry said. “I thought Dryden was very dialed in Friday night against Sudbury and then Graham didn’t let anything by him Saturday night. We do play good team defense, but those guys have been very solid.”
Sunday afternoon, the Rock jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 1:20 into the first period, as Reece Liu banged home his seventh goal of the season.
The Rapids got that one back shortly after the midway point in the frame, however, as Alexandre Dubuc netted a power-play marker, his seven tally of the campaign.
But Henry McLellan’s fifth goal of season, with 1:13 remaining in the opening period, allowed the Rock to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
It was a lead the Rock would not surrender, as Clark Scaddan netted a pair of goals, his third and fourth markers of the campaign, in just over a three-minute span early in the middle frame.
The Rapids made a goaltender switch following the first of Scaddan’s two goals, with starter Brock Grein getting the hook and Carter Vicente coming on in relief.
The Rock added to their advantage later in the period, as Ryan Boon scored a shorthanded tally, his fourth goal of the season, to make it a 5-1 hockey game.
Daniil Grishachev’s sixth goal of the campaign allowed the Rapids to close the gap slightly before the end of the frame.
That would be as close as they would come to getting back on even terms, however, as Thomas Beard added a power-play marker for the Rock, his fifth goal of the season, to make the final score 6-2 in favour of the home side.
The man advantage was created when Rapids blue-liner Tyler Trealout dropped the gloves with Scaddan. Both players received five-minute majors for fighting and game misconducts, with Trealout getting an extra two minutes for cross-checking.
As it turned out, that bout was only the preliminary, as Rapids blue-liner Cristian Glowacki and forward Nolan Masson tangled with Rock forward Ryan Armitage and blue-liner Elijah Pool just over two minutes later.
This time around, it was Pool who received the extra two minutes, for instigating the fracas, while all four combatants received five-minute majors for fighting and game misconducts. In addition, Rock forward Aaron Shaw was handed a 10-minute misconduct penalty, effectively ending his afternoon, as well.
All three members of the Rock’s Kaeden McArthur, Scaddan and Liu line earned praise from their coach following Sunday afternoon’s contest.
“Reece has arguably been our best forward over the last three weeks here,” Perry said. “He is just tenacious, he doesn’t stop working. He is a very intelligent player and he is always in the right spots. It was nice to see him get rewarded Saturday night and this afternoon. I think a lot of guys are feeling the weight of not scoring but it was just a matter of time for him.
“Clark is a guy we brought in hoping he would provide some depth scoring and he got two today and they were two big ones, especially when our team had been struggling scoring goals. Guys like him, who have produced everywhere they have been, put a lot of pressure on themselves.
“Kaeden is another player who has been extremely good the last two or three weeks here. He has been working super hard in practice and he always produces. He is such a talented player, high-end talent, too, he is big and smooth, sees the ice well and has incredible instincts and a great shot. He is a little snake-bitten right now and you can tell he is feeling the pressure, but he does other things well. It is not just about scoring goals.”
Other Rock skaters made favourable impressions on their coach, as well.
“I thought (blue-liners Zach) Secord and Pool did a good job on the penalty kill this afternoon,” Perry said.
“Up front, Aaron Shaw had a good game, as did Ryan Boon. It is amazing to me how much impact those guys have on a game every single night. Shaw has seven points in 10 games and it seems like every time Boon gets in the lineup, he scores a goal.”
Scaddan came up an assist short of a Gordie Howe hat-trick (a goal, an assist and a fight), although he was quick to admit dropping his gloves is not a big part of his game and he was much more eager to talk about his goals following the contest.
“Louie (Liu) and K-Mac (McArthur) have been playing pretty good and we have been meshing together,” he said.
“The first goal, I came down the wing, saw the side was open and I just tried to put it up over the goalie’s shoulder. On the second one, I just went to the net and Louie did it all, just fed it to me and I had a wide-open net, just slid it right on the ice, almost missed.”
Scaddan doesn’t figure there is any big secret as to why their line has been playing so well lately.
“We just have a little bit of everything, we all battle and work hard,” he said. “We know where each other are going to be out there on the ice. We have only played a couple of games together but it has been really going good so far.”
Scaddan, who is 20 years old, noted he had not been in a fight since he was 18 years old.
“It wasn’t really much of a fight, the guy tried to come at me and, yeah,” he said, describing his encounter with Trealout.
“I don’t want to fight, but I am not going to let somebody run me over or anything.”
Riley stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced to earn his eighth win of the season.
Grein, who started in net for the Rapids and stopped 17 of the 20 shots the Rock directed his way in his 22:15 of work, was tagged with the loss.
Vicente came on in relief for the Rapids and blocked 23 of the 26 shots he faced in his 37:45 of relief.
ROCK 3 GOLD MINERS 0
The Rock blanked the Gold Miners 3-0 at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex, snapping a three-game losing skid in the process.
Gee made 28 saves to record his first career NOJHL shutout, as he emerged victorious in a goaltending duel with Gold Miners puck stopper Matis Bureau Morel.
Neither netminder allowed a goal through the first 20 minutes of action, with Bureau Morel turning aside 42 shots and Gee blocking 18.
The Rock finally got on the scoreboard 8:52 into the third period, when Beard netted his fourth goal of the season, a marker that would stand up to be the game-winner.
Liu added a power-play marker, his sixth tally of the campaign, just over six minutes later to provide a little insurance.
Armitage then iced the victory for the Rock when he deposited his sixth goal of the season into an empty Kirkland Lake net with Bureau Morel on the bench in favour of an extra attacker and 33 seconds remaining in regulation.
In addition to recording the first NOJHL shutout of his career, Gee’s 28-save performance earned him his fourth win of the season.
Bureau Morel, who turned aside 59 of the 61 shots the Rock directed his way, was tagged with the loss.
CUBS 3 ROCK 1
The Rock kicked off their three-game weekend by dropping a 3-1 decision to the Cubs at the Archie Dillon Sportsplex Friday night.
While the Rock held their own against the Cubs for much of Friday night’s contest a number of glaring errors allowed Greater Sudbury to get back into the win column one day after the Hearst Lumberjacks snapped their 13-game winning streak.
Lucas Signoretti, the NOJHL’s scoring leader, got the puck rolling for the Cubs in the first period of the contest when he snuck a puck past Rock goalie Dryden Riley for his 17th goal of the season.
That mistake paled in comparison to the one that led to the Cubs second tally 3:49 into the second period, however, as three Greater Sudbury skaters broke in all alone on Riley, with Eidan Macartney taking a cross-crease pass from Ben Harris to deposit his sixth goal of the campaign into the Rock net.
The Rock finally got on the scoreboard 5:15 into the third period when Alexis Tremblay netted a power-play marker, his fifth goal of the season to provide the home fans with a little hope.
But that hope was dashed when Jacob Lamoureux deposited his third goal of the season into an empty Timmins net with Riley on the bench in favour of an extra attacker and 40 seconds remaining in regulation, making the final score 3-1 in favour of the visitors.
Cubs goalie Noah Beaulne turned aside 28 of the 29 shots the Rock directed his way to earn his ninth win of the season.
Riley, who stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of Sunday’s contest were Liu, Scaddan and McArthur, while Beard, Bureau Morel and Gee were selected Saturday and Beaulne, Harris and Liu were picked Friday night … Sunday afternoon, the Rock went 1-4 on the power play, while the Rapids were 1-5 with the man advantage. Saturday night, the Rock went 1-3 on the power play, while the Gold Miners were 0-2 with the man advantage. Friday, the Rock went 1-6 on the power play and the Cubs were 0-6 with the man advantage on Friday … Official attendance at the Archie Dillon Sportsplex on Sunday was 688, while 295 fans watched Saturday night’s contest at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex on Saturday and attendance at Friday night’s game at the Archie Dillon Sportsplex was 868 … Sunday’s only other contest saw the Beavers hang on to edge the Powassan Voodoos 2-1 in Blind River … A three-game road trip will see the Rock take on the Storm in Iroquois Falls on Friday, at 7:30 p.m., the Paper Kings in Espanola on Saturday, at 7 p.m., and the Vikings in Elliot Lake on Sunday, at 2 p.m. The next home game will see the Rock host the Hearst Lumberjacks at the McIntyre Arena on Friday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m.
