Rock goalie Dryden Riley makes a save on a close in shot off the stick of Iroquois Falls Storm forward Jordan Mayo as Timmins blue-liner Ayden Trottier looks on during the first period of Sunday afternoon’s NOJHL game at the McIntyre Arena. Riley made 27 saves in the contest to earn his first shutout of the season and backstop the Rock to a 4-0 win over the Storm. THOMAS PERRY/THE DAILY PRESS jpg, TD, apsmc
Dryden Riley stopped all 27 shots he faced to earn his first shutout of the season, as the Timmins Rock blanked the Iroquois Falls Storm 4-0 at the McIntyre Arena Sunday afternoon.
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
It was the third shutout of his NOJHL career for Riley who turned 17 on Friday.
“It feels awesome and it’s so nice to get it early on in the season,” he said.
“Hopefully, it will get me going for the rest of the year.”
The goose egg lowers Riley’s goals against average to 1.87 on the season, second best in the NOJHL to his teammate Graham Gee’s 1.00, while improving his save percentage to .933, third best in the league, behind only Gee’s .950 and Blind River Beavers goalie Connor Dunham-Fox’s .937.
“There were a couple of brawl saves, where I was on my butt, that weren’t awesome, but as long as the puck stays out of the net, I am happy,” he said.
They don’t give out extra points for style and Riley was just glad he could hold the Rock in the game until the team’s offence kicked into high gear.
“My mentality is the first period is the most important period because there have been a few games where I let in goals during the first period,” he said.
“So, I wanted to make sure I locked down the first period to let the boys get hot and then we went on from there.”
Reece Liu, playing his first game since Sept. 21, got the Rock on the scoreboard 6:57 into the opening period when he netted his second goal of the season.
“You never really expect the first goal of the game to be the game-winner, but it says a lot about Dryds (Dryden),” he said. “Feels really nice to have a goalie back there you can rely on. He has been really solid for us all season.
“My linemates, Lowesy (Lucas Lowe) and Army (Ryan Armitage), did a pretty good job on my goal, getting the puck back to the point and I found an open area in the slot and Bert (Ethan Albert) made a heads up play and I was able to get just enough of it to make the puck change direction and the shot slid past the goalie.”
After missing almost a month of action, Liu was eager to make a contribution upon his return to the ice.
“My first game back, I felt really good,” he said. “I love to compete more than anything and it was nice to be out there again with the boys on the ice and competing for a win.”
Speed is a big part of Liu’s game and he was flying Sunday afternoon, especially during the first period.
“Being a smaller guy, I kind of have to be quicker, stay a step ahead of people to have success,” he said. “It is something I have been working on.”
The Rock added to their lead 3:34 into the middle frame when Henry McLellan scored his second goal of the season.
Just over a minute later, Ryan Boon added his third goal of the season and the Rock were able to carry a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.
Thomas Beard then added a little icing on the cake late in the third period when he netted a power-play marker, also his third goal of the campaign, to make the final 4-0 in favour of the Rock.
With the win, the Rock improve to 8-2-0-0 on the season, good for third place in the NOJHL standings, behind the Greater Sudbury Cubs (10-1-1-1) and Blind River Beavers (8-4-1-0), although they have three games in hand on both.
Meanwhile, with the loss, the Storm fall to 4-8-0-0, good for a tie for eighth place in the 12-team league with the French River Rapids (3-5-0-2).
Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry was pleased with the outcome of Sunday afternoon’s contest, as well as the effort he saw from his players.
“We left a little bit on the table, but I liked our team’s effort today,” he said.
“Dryden was really solid and he gives us a solid effort every single night. Technically, he is never out of position. If you are going to beat him, you are going to have to beat him. So, I was happy to see him get that doughnut today.”
With the Rock’s leading goal scorer, Brant Romaniuk, now playing for Les Olympiques de Gatineau, of the QMJHL, the coach was not surprised to see others step up to fill the offensive void.
“It was really nice to have Reece back in the lineup,” Perry said. “He does so much for us. He is a smart player, he is tenacious on the fore-check and he has a really good stick and great instincts. He looked great out there this afternoon.”
Perry is confident the Rock are going to be just fine without Romaniuk in the lineup.
“We play a really structured game, we don’t give up a ton of shots or a ton of chances,” Perry said.
“Bounces happen, things happen, but when we are on our game, we are a hard team to beat, it doesn’t matter who is in our lineup. It’s just business as usual, early on in the season, we just need to get better every single day and then see where we are at in April.”
The coach was also happy with the play of his D corps, as well.
“All six guys played well this afternoon,” Perry said. “There were some times I thought we could have moved the puck a little quicker and it got us into a little bit of trouble, but they were solid back there and they competed.
“Poolie (Elijah Pool) was great, especially on the PK (penalty kill), just tons of effort and that stuff is contagious. I thought Sam Gallagher was great this afternoon, too.”
While the Rock welcomed Liu back to the lineup Sunday afternoon, it may be a little while before he is joined by others returning from injury or illness.
“K-Mac (Kaeden McArthur) is probably a week away, with an illness,” Perry said. “Ryno (Hayden Rynard, lower-body injury) has gone home. He is probably going to be out another six weeks, finally saw an orthopedic surgeon. He is going to do physiotherapy at home, spend some time with his family. Hopefully, we will have him back here in the new year. Tee (Tenzin Nyman) is probably a week away, but we are not going to rush him.
“We will weather the storm until those guys are back. I like our group and I like our depth.”
Riley’s 27-save shutout earned him his fifth win of the season for the Rock, second most in the NOJHL.
Maverick Fletcher, who turned aside 30 of the 34 shots the Rock directed his way, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of the game were Riley, Liu and Pool … The Rock went 1-4 on the power play, while the Storm were 0-4 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the McIntyre Arena was 875 … Sunday’s only other contest saw the Vikings edge the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 4-3 in Elliot Lake … The Rock will return to action on Thursday when they take on the Cubs in Greater Sudbury. The next home game will see the Rock host the Soo Eagles at the McIntyre Arena on Sunday, at 1 p.m.
