Timmins Rock forward Kimani Eccleston fires a shot into the Soo net as Thunderbirds defender Max DeCoff crashes into goalie Ryan Hicks during the second period of Friday night’s NOJHL contest at the McIntyre Arena. Eccleston scored a pair of goals to help the Rock defeat the Thunderbirds 9-2. It was the sixth-straight win for the Rock who will host the French River Rapids at the McIntyre Arena on Sunday, at 1 p.m. Photo by THOMAS PERRY /The Daily Press
While McArthur — who scored a shorthanded goal, an even-strength tally and a power-play marker — dominated the stat sheet, it was a night of firsts for three of his teammates
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
Kaeden McArthur’s hat-trick helped lift the Timmins Rock to a 9-2 win over the Soo Thunderbirds at the McIntyre Arena, Friday night.
It was the second meeting of the season between the squads, after the Thunderbirds scored a 3-1 victory in the Soo back on Sept. 26.
But the Thunderbirds appeared to be a shadow of themselves, Friday night after they fell behind early and could not dig themselves out of the hole had dug for themselves.
While McArthur — who scored a shorthanded goal, an even-strength tally and a power-play marker — dominated the stat sheet, it was a night of firsts for three of his teammates.
Blue-liner Ben Climenhaga got the puck rolling for the Rock, as he netted the first goal of his NOJHL career 2:04 into the opening period.
The Thunderbirds answered with a tally of their own four minutes later, as Owen Murphy found the back of the net for his second goal of the campaign.
And they had an excellent opportunity to take the lead six minutes later, on the power play, but McArthur had other ideas as he netted the first of his three goals in the contest and 10th of the season.
McArthur’s second marker of the game and 11th of the campaign, with two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the frame, allowed the Rock to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
The Rock continued to roll when the puck drop to signal the start of the middle frame, adding three more goals to their total.
Ryan Power, a 16-year-old Cambridge product, scored the first goal of his NOJHL career four minutes into the period.
“It felt amazing,” he said. “It is a great way to get the monkey off my back.”
Power (14, 1-4-5, 8) who also had an assist in Friday night’s contest was all smiles after his first two-point contest.
“It feels great,” he said. “It is just a product of hard work.”
Power’s mom, Sally, made the trip up from Toronto to watch he son play in Friday night’s contest.
“It was her first game watching me play live with the Rock,” he said. “So, I am going to celebrate with her at the hotel.”
And in case Rock fans are wondering, he is going to make sure she sticks around for Sunday’s game, as well.
Kimani Eccleston then scored a pair of goals, his second and third of the season, in the span of just over three minutes, to provide the Rock with a 6-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
The Rock kept their foot on the gas when the puck dropped to start the third period, tacking on three more goals, although an incident early in the frame had fans holding their breath.
Thunderbirds blue-liner Brady Real delivered a questionable hit that sent McArthur crashing heavily into the Soo goalpost and then the boards 25 seconds into the period.
Power came to the aid of his teammate and somehow came away with an extra penalty from the altercation, giving the Thunderbirds yet another power-play opportunity.
“I felt it was a dirty hit and there is no place for that,” Power said, explaining why at 5-8 and 160 pounds he went after the 6-2 and 190 pound Soo defender. “I am willing to do anything to help a teammate.”
After briefly leaving the ice surface, McArthur came back to complete his hat-trick by netting a power-play marker, his 12th goal of the season just over eight minutes into the frame.
Maxfeld Shin followed with his third goal of the campaign 36 seconds later.
Climenhaga’s D partner William Lobanov then added the first goal of his NOJHL career with just under two minutes remaining in the game.
But it was the Thunderbirds who closed out the scoring when Gavin Killoran netted his fourth goal of the season with 1:21 remaining on the clock.
Power noted he is feeling a lot more confident with every NOJHL contest he gets under his belt.
“The boys have been great and the coach (Brandon Perry) has been great,” he said.
Perry was pleased with the effort he saw from his Rock squad in Friday night’s contest.
“I thought we played really well,” he said. “Obviously, 12 penalties are way too many but that has been a theme lately. We have got to find a way to stay out of the box, but a real solid game out of our guys. I thought everybody played great.”
Ashton Beriana made his Rock debut Friday night, after recovering from an injury.
“That was his first game 302 days,” Perry said. “I thought he did great and got more comfortable as the game went on. Obviously, we were trying to ease him in there but that is a long time to have been off. He did a fantastic job. He brings a great energy to our lineup. So, it was super nice to finally see him in a Rock uniform.”
The coach was happy with what he saw from Climenhaga, as well.
“He was great tonight,” Perry said. “He is awesome and the guys love him in our dressing room. You could see how happy they were for him when he scored that goal. That is a sign of how good of a teammate you are. We don’t count on him to score goals. We like the defensive side of his game.”
Like everyone else in the Arena, the coach breathed a sigh of relief when McArthur was able to finish the game.
“K-Mac is such a big part of what we do here,” Perry said. “He has been so great the last two months. He is an elite player. It is usually No. 19 (Brant Romaniuk) on that line finishing off the plays but tonight it was K-Mac and it was nice to see.”
The coach was also happy to see Eccleston finally get rewarded for all of his hard work.
“He had been a little frustrated, I think, but he does so many things well,” Perry said. “He is an elite player, as well, he is 6-4 and 202 pounds and he has Major Junior experience. He brings so much to our game.”
Power is one of two 16 year olds on the Rock roster (goalie Ayden Mullen is the other) and the coach was impressed with his game Friday night.
“Ryan has been great for us,” Perry said. “It is hard to be a 16 year old in Junior ‘A’ hockey. He has been bidding his time, doesn’t always get the minutes he would like, but he shows up every day and works. He has got an edge to his game and a little grit, which we love. He is fearless and plays the game the right way.”
The Rock penalty kill was perfect Friday night and one of the keys to that success was the man between the pipes.
“Frédéric Cousineau was fantastic in net for us,” Perry said. “Obviously when you have that many penalties, and you only give up two (even-strength goals), he was great tonight.”
Rock goalie Frédéric Cousineau stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced to earn his seventh win of the season.
Thunderbirds goalie Ryan Hicks, who turned aside 33 of the 42 shots the Rock directed his way, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of the game were McArthur, Eccleston and Power … The Rock went 1-2 on the power play, while the Thunderbirds were 0-9 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the McIntyre Arena was 878 … Friday’s other action saw the Gold Miners double up the Soo Eagles 4-2 in Kirkland Lake, the French River Rapids top the Storm 5-2 in Iroquois Falls and the Greater Sudbury Cubs thump the Voodoos 9-1 in Powassan … The Rock will return to action on Sunday when they host the French River Rapids at the McIntyre Arena, at 1 p.m. Fans are reminded the Rock will be collecting non-perishable food items for The Lord’s Kitchen, as part of their Pack the Bus initiative. Fans making a donation will be eligible to purchase tickets to the game for $5.
