Timmins Rock goalie Dryden Riley stops a shot off the stick of Soo Eagles forward Ilian Danilov during the second period of Game 2 of their best-of-seven NOJHL quarter-final series at the McIntyre Arena Sunday night. Riley made 34 saves to backstop the Rock to a 4-0 victory and give them a 2-0 lead in the series. Game 3 will be played at Pullar Stadium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., on Wednesday night. THOMAS PERRY/THE DAILY PRESS jpg, TD, apsmc
Game between Timmins Rock and Soo Eagles remained scoreless through first 37:21 of action
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
Dryden Riley stopped all 34 shots he faced to backstop the Timmins Rock to a 4-0 win over the Soo Eagles in Game 2 of their best-of-seven NOJHL quarter-final series at the McIntyre Arena Sunday night.
It was the Belleville product’s first shutout of the 2025 playoffs and the second of his NOJHL postseason career and gave the Rock a 2-0 lead in the series, following Saturday night’s 4-1 victory.
Through the first 37:21 of the contest, Riley was in a goaltending duel with Eagles goalie Jace Knoerle, leaving fans to wonder if either team would ever score a goal.
“Earlier today, I was talking to my parents and saying this is a very close series and it could be possible we go 0-0 into overtime, with great goaltending on both sides and great teams on both sides,” Riley said.
“I was like there is no way I predicted that. It’s awesome. I love seeing goalies play well, especially in a 1-0 game, or a 2-1 game. I think that’s a lot better to watch than a 7-6 game or something like that.”
While there were no goals scored early on, both teams had some excellent opportunities, with breakaways and odd-man rushes.
“I was just glad I could make the saves, to really keep our team in it,” Riley said,
He admitted being in a 0-0 hockey game puts a lot more pressure on his shoulders, but he thrives in those kinds of situations.
“I really like living in the moment,” Riley said. “The more pressure there is, the better I will do, especially against these really good teams.”
There were a number of occasions in Sunday night’s contest when Soo forwards were getting up close and personal with the Rock goalie, either falling on him or knocking him out of his crease.
“I knew they were going to be poking at me and hacking at me, but the main thing was to just keep my composure and not feed the fire,” Riley said.
Through the first two games of the series, he has posted a 0.50 goals against average and a .986 save percentage.
“I am happy with it, but I still think there are lots of things to work on, rebound control and I think I could have saved the goal Saturday,” he said.
Lucas Lowe’s power-play marker, his first goal of the playoffs, late in the second period proved to be the game-winner.
Alexis Tremblay provided a little insurance when he netted his first goal of the playoffs, 2:26 into the third period.
Jack Kelly then added a power-play marker, his second goal of the playoffs, just past the midway point in the frame.
And with Knoerle on the bench in favour of an extra attacker, Kai Clayton deposited his first goal of the playoffs into the empty Soo net to make the final 4-0 in favour of the Rock.
Despite the victory and a 2-0 series lead, Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry was not totally pleased with what he saw from his squad Sunday night.
“We weren’t good the first two periods,” he said. “It was just one of those nights where nothing was working. There were bad vibes on the bench, guys were frustrated, coaches were frustrated during those first two periods, but we found a way to grind it out.
“Thank God we have a goalie who kept us in there while we figured stuff out.”
The coach amended his earlier comment about nothing working to concede Riley was at the top of his game Sunday night.
“He was fantastic, incredible,” Perry said. “Great job by him, especially in that second period to allow us to weather the storm and get going.
“I don’t know how we scored on the power play, but we did. It was just an ugly hockey game. We weren’t sharp, we weren’t burying our chances, but we weren’t really creating much, either.
“We kind of changed out mindset during the second intermission. We were a little too negative everywhere, coaches included, myself included. We were worrying about things that weren’t going right instead of just worrying about the next shift.”
In addition for singing the praises of his goaltender, Perry had a little extra praise for one of his forwards.
“Reece Liu was just so good on the forecheck with his stick tonight,” he said. “He is so tenacious it is infectious. It almost makes me want to put on the skates and get out there (with him). He is an incredible lead-by-example kid, all heart, all hustle and he was great tonight.”
Playing against a big, physical team like the Eagles, one of the keys for the Rock was trying to maintain their discipline and staying out of the penalty box.
“Yeah, try to, that was the message,” Perry said.
Meanwhile, the Eagles were already without the services of forward Nolan Nemecek, who picked up a three-game suspension after he was ejected from Game 1 after being assessed a match penalty for attempt to Injure or deliberate injury.
In the second period, they lost forward Cooper Fredericks who was assessed a five-minute major penalty for head contact and a game misconduct.
And, in the third period, Eagles blue-liner Gabriel Clark was ejected from the game after he too was assessed a five-minute major for head contact and a game misconduct.
With the series now switching to Pullar Stadium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Riley is looking forward to hitting the road with his teammates.
“I am a big fan of their rink, personally, I like the rink and I like the atmosphere,” he said. “It just feels like a pro-level hockey rink. The environment is really electric.”
With Game 3 and Game 4, and if necessary Game 5, on the road, Perry notes the Rock will look to build upon the success they enjoyed in the first two games of the series.
“We will go over the video, sharpen up what we have to sharped up and get ready for Game 3,” he said.
“We have got to get rested, get healthy and get back to it. We have three (games) in three (nights) there, which is no easy task, but we have to find a way to get a couple of wins.”
From a health stand point, the biggest concern following Game 2’s victory is forward Kaeden McArthur, who had to be helped off the ice after taking a hard hit into the boards behind the Soo net.
His status, with an apparent upper-body injury, is unknown, at this point.
In addition to earning his first shutout of the playoffs, Riley’s 34-save effort earned him his second win of the 2025 postseason.
Knoerle, who turned aside 33 of the 36 shots the Rock directed his way, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of the game were Riley, Lowe and Liu … The Rock went 2-6 on the power play, while the Eagles were 0-1 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the McIntyre Arena was 557 … Sunday’s other action saw the Blind River Beavers edge the Thunderbirds in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven quarter-final series … The Rock will travel to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., for Game 3 of their best-of-seven quarter-final series at Pullar Stadium on Wednesday, at 7 p.m.
