Timmins Rock forward Kaeden McArthur, centre, is all smiles as he leads teammates, from left, Brant Romaniuk, Braedyn Cy, Thomas Beard and Nolan Masson to the bench in celebration of his 22nd goal of the season during the first period of Sunday afternoon’s NOJHL contest at the McIntyre Arena. McArthur’s second goal of the afternoon put the Rock in front 3-2 in a game they would go on to win 9-5, extending their winning streak to 16 games. Photo by THOMAS PERRY /The Daily Press
And the resulting 9-5 victory extended the Rock’s winning streak to 16 games — with one game remaining on the schedule before the end of the calendar year
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
The Timmins Rock woke up from a mid-game slumber to escape the talons of the Soo Eagles at the McIntyre Arena, Sunday afternoon.
And the resulting 9-5 victory extended the Rock’s winning streak to 16 games — with one game remaining on the schedule before the end of the calendar year.
That game will see the Rock (22-5-0-1), second in the NOJHL standings but tops in winning percentage, play host to the Hearst Lumberjacks (20-6-0-2) at the McIntyre Arena, on Friday, at 7:30 p.m.
The already potent Rock lineup received a boost for Sunday afternoon’s contest, with the return of the team’s leading scorer, Brant Romaniuk, from his duties with Canada East at the 2025 Junior ‘A’ World Challenge in Trois-Rivières, Que.
And the 18-year-old Timmins product picked up right where he left off, setting up three of the Rock’s nine goals.
“Having Brant back is huge,” said Kaeden McArthur, who centred the line with Romaniuk and Diego Da Silva Sunday afternoon and picked up two goals and two assists.
“He makes some unreal plays and that’s kind of what he did this afternoon and that helped us win.”
Da Silva and McArthur, got the puck rolling for the Rock just 12 seconds into the contest, with the former finishing the play for his 15th goal of the season.
That marker initiated the tossing of toques, scarves and mittens onto the ice at the McIntyre Arena, as the Rock collected the items for Timmins and District Victims Services.
McArthur added a power-play marker, his 21st goal of the season, just over three minutes later and it looked like the Rock would stroll to their 16th-straight victory.
“We got the puck into the zone and I kicked it out to Brant and he found me high in the seam and I just shot it home,” McArthur said, describing how the play developed.
Not so fast. The Eagles, at the end of a three-game road trip that saw them drop a 6-4 decision to the Lumberjacks in Hearst Friday night and tie the Storm 3-3 in Iroquois Falls Saturday night, had other ideas.
Logan Stawizynski’s 13th goal of the season got the visitors on the scoreboard a minute and a half later.
Anden Marceau, who had four goals during the Eagles first visit to Timmins, an 8-5 setback, then added a power-play marker, his 22nd tally of the campaign, to knot things up at 2-2.
McArthur’s second goal of the game and 22nd tally of the campaign, also a power-play marker, put the Rock back in front.
“I can’t remember where I got the pass from, but I got the puck, took a shot, had it blocked, then shot again and it beat the goalie five-hole,” he said. “It was kind of lucky, but we will take it.”
Ryan Power’s second goal of the season made it a 4-2 hockey game in favour of the Rock heading into the second intermission.
Eagles starting goalie Jace Knoerle was given the hook following that marker, with Dalton Hoornstra coming on in relief.
When the puck dropped to signal the resumption of action in the middle frame, the Eagles once again overcame their two-goal deficit.
C.J. Zaharias netted his third goal of the season 1:06 into the period and Micah Seery followed with a power-play marker, his fifth tally of the campaign and the game was all tied up, at 4-4.
Rock starting goalie Ayden Mullen, who appeared to injure himself on Seery’s goal, stayed in the net for just over a minute when play resumed, but had to be replaced by Frédéric Cousineau at the next stoppage in play.
Ashton Beriana’s second goal of the season put the Rock back in front with less than five minutes remaining in the frame.
But, once again, the Eagles showed they were not about to fold their tents, as Alex Povorozniouk scored his sixth goal of the season to send the two teams into the second intermission deadlocked at 5-5.
Three-and-a-half minutes into the third period, Ryan Armitage gave the Rock the lead for good when he netted his seventh goal of the season.
A pivotal moment in the contest came just past the midway point in the frame when Da Silva came to the aid of a teammate who had absorbed a punishing hit from Soo blue-liner Trent Hoppe, but demonstrated restraint during the confrontation. As a result, Hoppe received a two-minute minor for being the instigator, a five-minute major for fighting and a game misconduct, while Da Silva escaped a trip to the sin bin.
The resulting seven-minute power play saw the Rock score three times to put the game out of reach.
During that span Matteo Paradiso scored his sixth goal of the season, Da Silva added his second marker of the afternoon and 16th of the season and blue-liner Matthew Kim chipped in with his eighth tally of the season, to close out the scoring.
McArthur knew the Rock couldn’t afford to sit back Sunday afternoon because the Eagles proved during their first visit to the McIntyre Arena they just don’t give up, regardless of the score.
“Whenever they play against us, they give us their best,” he said. “So, we just have to be prepared and score more goals that they do.”
Rock assistant coach James Daschuk was pleased to see his squad extend its winning streak, but admitted Sunday’s contest was not the most effective the team has played during the 16-game stretch.
“It was a wild one, for sure, we haven’t played one like this in a while,” he said. “We just didn’t have a good 40 minutes, we gave away a couple of two-goal leads, but the guys still had enough in the tank and our effort in the third period was a lot better.
“Our D Zone coverage was a little bit soft this afternoon. We had a couple of breakdowns and the puck ended up in the back of our net.
“Our penalty kill (ranked No. 2 in the NOJHL) wasn’t at its best, which is the way it goes sometimes, but we have to make better decisions. That’s on us. We have to be better in that aspect of the game.”
The assistant coach liked what he saw from the Rock’s top line Sunday afternoon.
“Brant and K-Mac are the straws that stir the drink, as far as offence goes,” Daschuk said. “They are our two leading scorers and they bring a different dynamic to our power play, as well. With Brant’s shot, you have to respect him, which opens up the door for other guys. I am sure K-Mac is happy to have Brant back and vice versa. They have been great together all season and I am sure they are looking forward to having Lowesy (Lucas Lowe, lower-body injury) back, as well.”
Beriana and Power also made favourable impressions on the coaching staff.
“When you throw those two guys out on your fourth line we have the best fourth line in the league, as far as I am concerned,” Daschuk said. “It just goes to show our depth. We could probably play those guys anywhere higher in the lineup but that’s where they fell in tonight. They were little sparkplugs, full of energy. Beriana’s goal was a huge one for us. It gave us another lead that unfortunately we gave away again. They are such good kids, too, and they work hard every day.”
With only five blue-liners in the lineup Sunday afternoon due to an illness that kept Zach Secord from dressing for the contest, Daschuk had a little extra praise for one of them.
“One of our guys who doesn’t get enough credit is Jack Quevillon,” he said. “You forget he is only 17 years old and with only five guys back there today, Q was getting a lot of time on the (penalty) kill. I am super proud of the way he has been playing the last couple of weeks.
Daschuk was unable to provide an update on the seriousness of Mullen’s injury following the game.
“He took a few strides to the bench and you could tell something was not quite right,” he said. “Hopefully, he is just day to day.”
Cousineau, who stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced in his 29:42 of relief work, picked up his 14th win of the season, his 11th-straight victory. Mullen blocked 15 of the 19 shots he faced in his 30:18 of work.
Hoornstra, who turned aside 18 of the 23 shots the Rock directed his way in his 45:57 of relief, was tagged with the loss. Knoerle, stopped six of the 10 shots he faced in his 14:03 of work.
NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of the game were McArthur (two goals, two assists), Romaniuk (three assists) and Kim (one goal, two assists) … The Rock went 5-9 on the power play, while the Eagles were 2-8 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the McIntyre Arena was 787 … Sunday’s only other contest saw the Storm blank the Blind River Beavers 4-0 in Iroquois Falls … The Rock will close out the first half of their schedule when they host the Hearst Lumberjacks at the McIntyre Arena, on Friday, at 7:30 p.m.
