Timmins Rock forward Kaeden McArthur, shown here celebrating a goal earlier in the season, scored a pair of goals to help lead his team to a 9-1 over the Rapids in French River, Saturday night. With the two points, McArthur now trails former Rock captain Derek Seguin by just a single point for the franchise’s scoring lead since it returned to Timmins prior to the 2015-16 campaign. Photo by FILE /The Daily Press
Kaeden McArthur scores pair of goals to inch closer to becoming Rock all-time scoring leader since NOJHL team’s return to Timmins
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
A two-game weekend road trip through Powassan and French River proved to be a case of déjà vu for the Timmins Rock.
It produced a three-goal loss to the Voodoos and a one-sided victory over the Rapids — fueled in large part by seven unanswered second-period goals — just like the previous weekend’s encounter with the NOJHL squads at the McIntyre Arena.
“Yeah, it was pretty much the same,” said Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry, when asked about the similarities of the outcomes.
Saturday night’s 9-1 victory over the Rapids at the Noelville Arena allowed the Rock to pile up the offensive statistics, as 13 of their 18 skaters combined to produce 24 points.
Perhaps feeling a little frustrated after suffering their second-straight regulation defeat, this time 4-1, at the hands of the Voodoos in Powassan Saturday night, the Rock came out flying in French River.
They outshot the Rapids 25-7 in the opening period and took a 2-0 lead, courtesy of Kaeden McArthur’s 30th and 31st goals of the season.
The two goals now leave McArthur (181 points) just one point behind former Rock captain Derek Seguin (182 points) for the most career points since the franchise returned to Timmins prior to the 2015-16 campaign.
Of course, current Hearst Lumberjacks assistant coach Marc-Alain Begin’s franchise record (Timmins Gold Bears/Abitibi Eskimos/Timmins Rock) 283 regular-season points (accumulated from 2008-12) appears safe, at least for now.
With 62 points on the season, McArthur is currently tied for third place in the NOJHL scoring race with Lumberjacks forward Cameron Menard, but he has played four fewer games to this point in the season.
The Rock’s second-period explosion saw a pair of McArthur’s teammates double down on the goal ledger, as well.
Diego Da Silva, fresh off serving a three-game suspension for a head contact infraction in a win over the Soo Thunderbirds on Jan. 23, netted his 23rd and 24th goals of season.
And Ashton Beriana nearly doubled his season totals, as he scored his fourth and fifth markers of the campaign.
In addition, Thomas Beard picked up his 16th goal of the season, Matteo Paradiso added his 14th tally of the campaign and captain Braedyn Cyr chipped in with his fifth marker of the season.
Leading 9-0 after 40 minutes of action, the only question that remained to be answered was whether or not Rock goalie Virgil Sausset Plateaux would record the first shutout of his NOJHL career.
Unfortunately for Sausset Plateaux, he will have to wait to earn that accolade, however, as the Rapids struck for a power-play marker while enjoying a two-man advantage.
Jonah Gareau’s eighth goal of the season, with 2:42 remaining in the third period, denied Sausset Plateaux’s shutout bid.
“That was tough, a five-on-three, just a broken play out of the corner,” Perry said.
“He got beat on that play, but he was very good tonight. He made some really big saves and he was really solid in net for us.”
The Rock signed Sausset Plateaux, who had started the season with the Iroquois Falls Storm, after they lost starting goalie Frédéric Cousineau to a lower-body injury during the Rock’s first game after the NOJHL’s Christmas break.
“He has been really solid and he has been getting better every day,” Perry said.
“He has done a lot of work with our goalie coach Mitchell Knight and making the necessary adjustments in his movements and his stance. He looks great. He does.”
With the Rock, Sausset Plateaux has posted a record of 2-0-0-0, with 1.00 goals against average and a .966 save percentage.
During the Rock’s 13-1 win over the Rapids in Timmins, on Jan. 25, Sausset Plateaux’s shutout bid ended with 5:28 remaining in the third period.
There was certainly a lot for Perry to like about the Rock’s offensive outburst, Saturday night.
“K-Mac (McArthur) was good tonight,” he said. “He got us going really early and played a good hard game.
“Da Silva was good, as well. He has a really heavy shot. He had been trying to be too cute at the beginning of the game, so I told him to just shoot the puck. When he started shooting, they started going in.
“Beriana was really awesome, really good for us tonight, as well.”
In addition to scoring his fifth goal of the season, Cyr earned an assist, as well, giving him 39 points in 39 games this season.
“He was solid again tonight,” Perry said. “He is just a model of consistency back there for us.”
One of the Rock’s youngest players also made a favourable impression on Perry.
“Ryan Power was fantastic,” he said. “Really, everybody kind of had their moments today.”
That having been said, the Rock need to make adjustments to their game in order to get back on a roll they hope will take them all the way to top spot in the NOJHL.
“Even in a 9-1 win tonight, the last two or three weeks really, I don’t think out game has been where it should be or needs to be for long-term success,” Perry said.
“Part of that is just the heavy schedule we have had (including a pair of makeup games). I don’t want to make excuses for our guys but part of it is just a lack of practice time because of all the games we have been playing.
“We will have a full week of practice before we head to Hearst on Friday. We are really looking forward to that, getting to clean up the things we need to clean up, kind of get our groove back, so to speak.”
Sausset Plateaux was denied the shutout Saturday night, he did pick up his fourth win of the season and second in two starts since signing with the Rock after stopping 33 of the 34 shots he faced.
Rapids starting goalie Matis Bureau Morel, who turned aside 50 of the 56 shots the Rock directed his way in 45:27 of work, was tagged with the loss. Ethan Madden blocked 11 of the 14 shots he faced during his 12:37 of relief work.
VOODOOS 4 ROCK 1
Blue-liner Dylan Rousselle’s first career hat-trick helped lead the Voodoos to a 4-1 win over the Rock at the Powassan Sportsplex, Friday night.
It was the second-straight win for the Voodoos against the Rock after they ended Timmins’ 21-game winning streak with a 5-2 win at the McIntyre Arena, on Jan. 20.
“It was the same type of game,” Perry said. “We just weren’t sharp. We didn’t execute much. We didn’t get much from our first line. It just wasn’t a great game.
“Partly, it was because of them. They play a trap style of game. They slowed us down through the neutral zone, but we just weren’t very good.”
Rousselle’s 10th goal of the season gave the Voodoos a 1-0 lead during the opening period of Friday night’s contest.
Blue-liner Matthew Kim got the Rock back on even terms when he netted a power-play marker, his 12th goal of the season, early in the middle frame.
But Rousselle’s 11th tally of the campaign, 11 minutes later, restored the Voodoos’ advantage and gave them a 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
The Voodoos added a pair of power-play markers in the third period to put the game on ice.
Marcus Krats netted the first of those tallies, his 10th goal of the season, and Rousselle then completed his hat-trick by netting his 12th goal of the campaign to close out the scoring.
Voodoos goalie Derrick Champagne turned aside 38 of the 39 shots the Rock directed his way to earn his 15th win of the season.
Rock goalie Ayden Mullen, who stopped 36 of the 40 shots he faced, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The three stars of Saturday night’s game were McArthur (two goals), Da Silva (two goals) and Beriana (two goals, one assist). Friday night, Rousselle (three goals), Krats (one goal, two assists) and Champagne (38 saves) were chosen … The Rock went 0-3 on the power play Saturday night, while the Rapids were 1-4 with the man advantage. Friday night, the Rock went 1-4 on the power play, while the Voodoos were 2-6 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the Noelville Arena on Saturday was 124, while 197 fans attended Friday night’s game at the Powassan Sportsplex … Saturday’s other action saw the Hearst Lumberjacks edge the Storm 2-1 in overtime in Iroquois Falls, the Thunderbirds sneak past the Espanola Paper Kings 6-5 in overtime in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and the Voodoos top the Blind River Beavers 6-1 in Powassan … The Rock will return to action on Friday when they take on the Lumberjacks at the Claude Larose Recreation Centre in Hearst, at 7 p.m.
