VIDEO: Timmins Rock roll over Soo Eagles

Timmins Rock forward Justin Charette applies pressure to Soo Eagles blue-liner Michael Starzomsk on the forecheck during Saturday night’s NOJHL contest at Pullar Stadium. Charette had a goal and two assists in the contest to help lead the Rock to an 8-1 win over the Eagles. POSTMEDIA NETWORK

The Timmins Rock got a pair of goals each from Lucas Piekarczyk, Nicholas Frederick and Liam Wells en route to an 8-1 win over the Eagles at Pullar Stadium Saturday night.


Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network


SAULT STE. MARIE, MICH. — The Timmins Rock got a pair of goals each from Lucas Piekarczyk, Nicholas Frederick and Liam Wells en route to an 8-1 win over the Eagles at Pullar Stadium Saturday night.

It evened the Rock’s record to 1-1 on their three-game weekend road trip through the NOJHL’s West Division that will conclude with a game against the Beavers in Blind River Sunday afternoon.

The Rock jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead Saturday night and never looked back.

Blue-liner Kenyon Nyman got the puck rolling when he netted his fourth goal of the season at the 6:43 mark.

Piekarczyk then scored the first of his two goals on the night and fourth of the season, a power-play marker, just over four minutes later.

The Rock exploded for four-straight second-period goals to put the game out of reach.

Piekarczyk’s second goal of the night and fifth of the season 5:16 into the frame increased the Rock lead to 3-0.

Less than two minutes later, Frederick struck for the first of his two goals on the night and ninth of the season, another power-play marker.

That ended the night for Eagles starting goalie Reid Ramsay, with Logan Raffaele coming on in relief.

The move didn’t pay off, however, as Wells added the first of his two goals on the night and fifth of the season just 10 seconds later.

And Frederick’s second goal of the night and 10th of the season then increased the Rock lead to 6-0.

The Eagles finally got on the scoreboard 51 seconds later, as Jack Mortson beat Rock goalie Patrick Boivin for his 10th goal of the season.

That marker ended a streak of 158:37 of shutout hockey for Boivin who had last been beaten by Jack Paweski during a 5-1 loss to the Eagles during the 2022 NOJHL Showcase in Sudbury on Oct. 5.

That would be as close as the Eagles would come to getting back on even terms, however, as the Rock added two more third-period goals to complete their 8-1 victory.

Wells second goal of the night and sixth of the season was followed by Justin Charette’s third goal of the season with just seven seconds remaining on the clock.

As one might expect, Perry was pleased with what he saw from all aspects of the Rock’s game Saturday night.

“Earlier in the day, we were obviously not happy with our Friday night performance, so we just challenged the guys,” he said.

“We had a really good video session and it was probably a lot longer than most of our video sessions.

“It was really good to has some things out, clean up a couple of things and I think the guys were real angry coming out of that one.

“I think previous to that game our power play hadn’t scored in four or five games.”

The Rock went 3-7 on the power play against the Eagles, indicating the coach’s message got through.

“It was just a great response by our group,” Perry said.

“Obviously, it was nice to have that offence but our will and our compete level was just something we had not seen all year from this group.

“It is a really good sign of things to come, I hope.”

Given the one-sided score, it is no surprise the coach had plenty of praise for his troops.

“That whole top line, with Pige (Nicolas Pigeon), Babs (Harroun) and Piesy (Piekarczyk) was great, Nolan Ring and Nicholas Frederick up front, Kenyon Nyman got on the scoreboard just getting shots through, and Tenzin (Nyman) has really started playing well and Patty (Boivin) gave us great, solid goaltending,” Perry said.

“I thought Evan Grigor had a great game Saturday night. Hayden Rynard is always solid.”

Boivin stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced to earn his sixth win of the season for the Rock.

Ramsay, who turned aside 16 of the 20 shots the Rock directed his way in his 26:53 of work, was tagged with the loss. Raffaele blocked 14 of the 18 shots he faced in relief.

NOJHL NOTES — The three stars of the game were Piekarczyk, Boivin and Charette … The Rock went 3-7 on the power play, while the Eagles were 0-5 with the man advantage … Official attendance at Pullar Stadium was 523 … Saturday’s other action saw the Hearst Lumberjacks edge the Beavers 4-3 in overtime in Blind River, the Powassan Voodoos beat the Rapids 5-2 in French River and the Greater Sudbury Cubs dump the Red Wings 5-1 in Elliot Lake … The Rock will conclude their three-game road trip with a contest against the Beavers in Blind River on Sunday, at 2 p.m.