Espanola Paper Kings forward Emerson De Giacomo deflects a pass just wide of the post to the right of Timmins Rock goalie Logan Coates during the second period of Friday night’s NOJHL contest at the McIntyre Arena. Coates kept the Rock in the game until they were able to rally for a 4-2 win over the Paper Kings. (THOMAS PERRY / The Daily Press)
Evan Katic nets pair of late goals, including the game-winner, to help kick start offence
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
Persistence paid off for the Timmins Rock as they doubled up the Espanola Paper Kings 4-2 at the McIntyre Arena, Friday night.
It took 44 minutes and 40 seconds for the Rock to finally get a puck past Espanola goalie Mason Janicki who had stopped all 26 shots he had faced through the contest’s first two periods.
Kaden Wicklander had staked the Paper Kings to a 1-0 lead 15:36 into the middle frame when he beat Timmins goalie Logan Coates for his third goal of the season.
Coates, making his first regular-season start on home ice for the Rock, was not as busy as his Espanola counterpart, but he was forced to come up with a number of big-time stops to keep his team in the game until they got rolling.
“We have a great group of players and I want them to know I can play,” said the North Bay product who won all three of his starts as an affiliate goalie with the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners last season.
“They played for me and we are a family.”
Coates was confident the Rock could pull out the victory if he could keep them in the game until they got rolling.
“That’s hockey,” he said. “Sometimes things are not going to go your way at the start (of the game) and you have got to battle through. We obviously had some adversity, but the boys battled and we pushed through. It was a good game.”
Coates appreciated the support he received from his teammates throughout the contest.
“In the first period, we started a little slow but as soon as we got into it, got our momentum, everything just kind of clicked,” he said.
Wicklander’s goal came off a scramble in front of the Rock net, on a broken play.
“When you are down 1-0, that’s the time to try even harder, just refocus,” Coates said.
Matteo Paradiso finally got the Rock on the scoreboard at the 4:40 mark of the third period when he beat Janicki for his second goal of the campaign.
Evan Katic then gave the Rock the lead just under eight minutes later when he netted his first of two goals on the night and fifth of the campaign.
Katic then added his second of the night and sixth of the season, a marker that would prove to be the game-winner, 38 seconds later.
Espanola managed to close the gap with less than three minutes remaining in regulation when Ryan Atkins scored his second goal of the season.
The Paper Kings then pulled Janicki in favour of an extra attacker with just over a minute remaining in the third period, but the move backfired.
Ashton Beriana cut wide around an Espanola defender, then showed some nifty stick work to deposit the puck into the empty Paper Kings net for his second goal of the season.
That market iced the victory for the Rock, who improved to 5-0-0-1 on the season, good for second place in the NOJHL standings.
Rock coach and general manager Sheldon Reasbeck was happy, for the most part, to see his squad pull out the victory and extend their season-opening point streak to six games.
“It doesn’t help when you are in the box for six or so minutes like we were in the second period, but five-on-five we were all over them tonight,” he said, noting his squad’s sluggish middle frame.
“We need to play cleaner. We are kind of always teetering on the line in terms of how aggressive we can play, but all-in-all we have to play cleaner hockey.”
Many fans at Friday night’s game were wondering if the Rock were ever going to score a goal in the contest.
“That goalie (Janicki) stood on his head, all night, we couldn’t figure him out,” Reasbeck said. “Then, finally, Diso (Paradiso) figured it out to put a little doubt in the goalie’s mind.
“Goals come in bunches with us, apparently, but we needed that first one to go in and then the flood gates opened.
“We are playing really good hockey five-on-five and our PK (penalty kill) is pretty stellar.”
The coach liked what he saw from Katic again Friday night.
“He is doing everything now,” Reasbeck said. “He is a shooter and he grinds down low, as well. His second goal of the night was scored from the front of the net, where he always is, but his first goal was just a beauty, off the zone entry, he came in and buried that puck with an excellent shot.”
Reasbeck appreciated the effort he saw from Coates, as well.
“Logan played great tonight,” he said. “He played with confidence and used his size very effectively tonight. He wasn’t moving too much, just kind of getting his body in the way and as a 6-3 goaltender that’s what you should do.”
While Beriana had the empty-net goal to ice Friday night’s victory his offensive contribution was just one part of his game that impressed Reasbeck.
“Ashton does everything for us,” he said. “He is kind of our little Swiss army knife. He can penalty kill. He plays on the power play. He plays great five-on-five. He does everything. He is always on the D side of the puck, has a good stick on the puck, forces a lot of turnovers and positionally, he is amazing.”
The only down side for the Rock Friday night is they lost forward Edan Etheridge to an upper-body injury in the third period.
He is listed as day-to-day at this point.
Coates blocked 24 of the 26 shots he faced to earn his first win of the season for the Rock.
Janicki, who turned aside 41 of the 44 shots the Rock directed his way, was tagged with the loss for the Paper Kings.
NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of the game were Katic, Coates and Janicki … The Rock went 0-2 on the power play, while the Paper Kings were 0-4 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the McIntyre Arena was 799 … Rock forward Sutton Scheck and Paper Kings blue-liner Carter Makasoff were ejected from the game in the second period when they each received five-minute majors for fighting and game misconducts … Friday’s other action saw the Voodoos edge the Soo Thunderbirds 3-2 in a shootout in Powassan, the Eagles double up the Blind River Beavers 6-3 in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and the Iroquois Falls Storm top the Vikings 6-2 in Elliot Lake … The Rock will travel to Hearst for a game against the Lumberjacks at the Claude Larose Recreation Centre, at 7 p.m.
