Photos: Northern Lights Photography
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
HEARST — A pair of players who have yet to reach their 16th birthdays led the Timmins Rock to a 3-2 shootout victory over the Lumberjacks at the Claude Larose Recreation Centre, on Sunday.
Goalie Dryden Riley, who will turn 16 on Oct. 11, stopped three of the four shootout attempts he faced to earn his first NOJHL win and forward Brant Romaniuk, who will turn 16 on Oct. 4, scored the shootout clinching goal for the Rock.
It was the second half of a home-and-home series between the two East Division rivals that saw the Lumberjacks double up the Rock 4-2 at the McIntyre Arena Friday night.
“It was a good one (win), the guys battled hard,” said Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry.
“We played a really good road game, our goaltender was outstanding and we got the job done.”
Early on Sunday, it looked like the Lumberjacks were well positioned to earn a sweep of the series.
Liam Boswell staked the home side to a 1-0 lead two minutes into the contest when he scored his fifth goal of the season.
And Jason Towindo added to that advantage two-and-a-half minutes into the middle frame when he scored his third goal of the season.
“Obviously, we have a lot of work to do and a long ways to go, but we are confident in our ability,” Perry said.
“We are a good hockey team. If you are outplayed and you are in your own end the whole time and go down 2-0 it is a different story. You start thinking ‘maybe we are in a little bit over our head here,’ but we were playing a good hockey game.
“A couple of mistakes ended up in our own net, but there was no panic.
“Just keep working, you are down one on the road after 20 minutes, perfect road period, outshooting the other team.
“We just stuck with it and kept pushing, kept pushing. We weren’t great, but we will certainly take the two points.”
Down 2-0 heading into the third period, the Rock got a power-play marker from Nolan Ring, his third goal of the campaign, 1:05 into the frame.
Then, with 2:35 remaining in regulation, Liam Wells added a second power-play marker, his fifth goal of the season, to tie things up and force overtime.
The five-minute overtime frame failed to produce a winner, setting the stage for the shootout.
Kaeden McArthur, the Rock’s first shooter, beat Lumberjacks goalie Tristan Boileau to give the visitors the early advantage, with Riley denying the Lumberjacks’ Mathieu Comeau.
Round 2 saw both the Rock’s Harry Clark miss and the Lumberjacks’ Tyler Patterson bury his attempt to tie things.
Neither the Rock’s Ring, not the Lumberjacks’ Boswell was able to convert in Round 3, leaving things tied up.
That set the stage for Romaniuk’s shootout winning effort in Round 4 and Riley’s clinching save on a shot off the stick of Towindo, securing the Rock’s victory.
The Rock coach was pleased with the effort he saw from a number of his players Sunday afternoon.
“Dryden Riley was outstanding and I am super happy to see him get his first NOJHL win,” Perry said.
“Jack Anderson played a really good game and I thought Hayden Rynard worked really hard.
“Obviously, our big guys, Ringer, Clarkie, Wellsy, Freddie (Felix Cadieux-Fredette) were really good, especially a guy like Harry Clark who is a little frustrated the puck is not going in for him, but he means so much to our club. He does so many other good things than just scoring goals.
“Up and down our lineup, I liked our effort and Kaeden McArthur scored a beautiful goal in the shootout.
“We put a 16-year-old (Romaniuk) out there in sudden death and he scored a beautiful goal. You see the skill level he has and it was really nice to see him get that goal.
“Those are big moments you are going to look back on at the end of the year.”
While Clark has just one goal on the season, his 11 assists have leading the team’s scoring race with 12 points.
While two Rock players, blue-liner Kyle Trottier and McArthur, exited Friday night’s contest and did not return only the former was missing from the lineup Sunday afternoon.
“He (Trottier) is going to the fracture clinic on Tuesday, but it looks like it is going to be about four weeks,” Perry said, updating the blue-liner’s upper-body injury.
“That is obviously a big loss for us, not only in the dressing room but for our on-ice play, as well.”
As one might expect, Riley was all smiles following Sunday afternoon’s victory.
“It’s awesome, I feel really good,” he said.
“I put the work in at practice to make sure I would be ready for this start.”
Riley’s first victory is even more special given the team at the other end of the ice.
“It meant a lot to the boys and it meant a lot to me, too, to beat a division rival in their building,” he said.
“I think I just proved myself as an 07(-birth-year) goaltender, that I can handle the biggest rival.”
The Belleville product admitted he started to feel a little nervous when the game went into overtime.
“(In the shootout), I was waiting them out, but I was more excited than nervous in the shootout,” Riley said.
“I love shootouts, breakaways are always fun.”
Riley stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced in regulation and overtime to secure his first NOJHL victory.
Boileau, who turned aside 36 of the 38 shots the Rock directed his way, was tagged with the loss.
LUMBERJACKS 4 ROCK 2
Maddoc Newton scored a goal and set up another as the Lumberjacks doubled up the Rock 4-2 at the McIntyre Arena Friday night.
Newton’s second goal of the season staked the Lumberjacks to a 1-0 lead 12:08 into the opening frame Friday night.
It appeared the visitors would take that advantage into the first intermission, but McArthur converted a feed from Clark for his fourth goal of the season with 2.12 seconds remaining on the clock.
A Wells power-play marker, his fourth goal of the season, then gave the Rock a 2-1 lead 6:13 into the middle frame.
The Rock ran into difficulty getting the puck out of their own end later in the period, however, and the Lumberjacks made them pay.
Boswell converted a bang-bang play in front of Rock goalie Patrick Boivin at the 17:10 mark for his fourth goal of the season.
Then, a minute and a half later, Owen Hey scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal, his third tally of the season.
The Rock had an excellent opportunity late in the third period to get back on even terms when they pulled Boivin in favour of an extra attacker at the start of a two-minute power play.
Adam Shillinglaw deposited the puck into the empty Rock cage for his first goal of the season, a shorthanded marker, however, to ice the victory for the Lumberjacks.
“Any time you double up a team in shots you expect to win a hockey game, but we made big mistakes in our own end,” Perry said.
“It is something we are trying to address and clean up, just mental mistakes. As we move forward, those things will be eliminated. It is still early.
“We played a great second period and came out of it losing the period 2-1. It is just the way the game goes sometimes.”
Russ Decoste turned aside 29 of the 31 shots the Rock directed his way to earn the victory.
Boivin, who blocked 11 of the 14 shots directed his way, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The three stars of Sunday afternoon’s game were Riley, Boileau and Romaniuk, while Newton, Clark and Decoste were chosen Friday night … The Rock went 2-5 on the power play Sunday afternoon, while the Lumberjacks were 0-4. Friday night, the Rock went 1-5 on the power play, while the Lumberjacks were 0-3 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the Claude Larose Recreation Centre on Sunday afternoon was 626, while 1,024 fans attended Friday night’s game at the McIntyre Arena … Sunday’s other action saw the Powassan Voodoos edge the Thunderbirds 4-3 in a shootout in Sault Ste. Marie, the Beavers top the Iroquois Falls Storm 3-1 in Blind River and the Cubs thump the Espanola Paper Kings 9-2 in Greater Sudbury … The Rock will travel to Espanola for a game against the Paper Kings on Friday.
“Game Highlights” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
