Timmins Rock forward Reece Liu attempts to jam the puck under Iroquois Falls Storm goalie Justin Sullivan during Saturday night’s NOJHL contest at the Jus Jordan Arena. Liu’s second-period tally, his 11th goal of the season, stood up to be the game-winner, as the Rock went on to defeat the Storm 4-1. It was the fifth-straight victory for the surging Rock. TURNBULL’S NORTHERN PHOTOGRAPHY/FOR NOJHL NETWORK jpg, TD, apsmc
The Timmins Rock weathered a first-period Storm before skating to a 4-1 victory at the Jus Jordan Arena Saturday night.
Photos: Turnbull’s Northern Photography
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
It was the fifth-straight win for the Rock (28-14-0-0) who knocked off the Espanola Paper Kings 5-2 at the McIntyre Arena Friday night. They are now just two points back of the Soo Eagles (28-12-0-2) in the battle for fourth place in the NOJHL standings and it lengthened their lead over the sixth-place Soo Thunderbirds (22-20-1-2), and they still have three games in hand.
Despite being outshot 18-11 in the opening 20 minutes of action, the Rock emerged from the first period of Saturday night’s contest with a 1-0 lead thanks to stellar goaltending from Dryden Riley and Brant Romaniuk’s 13th goal of the season.
The Rock overcame their slow start in the middle frame, as they outshot the Storm 17-4 and added to their lead.
Reece Liu added his 11th goal of the season 2:53 into the period. It was a marker that would stand up to be the game-winner.
Kaeden McArthur followed with his 18th tally of the campaign four minutes later.
That allowed the Rock to carry a 3-0 advantage into the second intermission.
Clark Scaddan added to the Rock lead when he found the back of the Iroquois Falls net 1:01 into the third period.
At that point, the only thing in question was whether or not Riley would record his fourth shutout of the season, to move back into a tie with Greater Sudbury Cubs goalie Noah Beaulne who had blanked the French River Rapids 6-0 earlier in the evening.
That would not be the case, however, as Storm blue-liner Tibor Nemeth beat Riley for his first career NOJHL goal, a power-play marker, with just under five minutes remaining on the clock.
But it proved to be too little, too late, as the Rock held on for the 4-1 victory.
Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry was happy to see his squad overcome its slow start to Saturday night’s contest.
“The first period was probably to worst 20 minutes we have played in a long time and they came out hard,” he said. “We thought it was going to be an easy night and it wasn’t. The second period came around and we started rolling.”
The coach agreed Riley’s strong play during the opening period was critical to the Rock’s success Saturday night.
“That’s why we got him,” Perry said. “He was 18 stops in the first period. It was crazy that we gave up that many shots in a period, but he kept us in there. They just outworked us in the first period and we just couldn’t handle pucks, we weren’t breaking out efficiently. They were jumping on turnovers and they were just ready.
“We got out of the first period with a 1-0 lead and then we started rolling.”
A number of Rock players made positive impressions on their coach during Saturday night’s contest.
“I thought Reece Liu was really good tonight and our penalty kill did a great job,” Perry said. “We took a few too many penalties than we would have liked.
“The second and third periods, I thought everybody played well. Clark Scaddan played really well. He had a beautiful goal.
“We just stuck with it and our guys came through.”
There was a festive mood during the bus ride back to Timmins, as the Rock players celebrated their latest victory.
“It was a good feeling, obviously, because it wasn’t an easy night for us,” Perry said. “We will have a nice little break, enjoy the Super Bowl Sunday and then get back to work.”
Asked whether he was pulling for the two-time champion Kansas City Chiefs or the Philadelphia Eagles, Perry said, “I hope they both lose. Go (Dallas) Cowboys.”
While Riley failed to record the shutout, he stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced to earn his NOJHL-best 18th win of the season.
Storm goalie Justin Sullivan, who turned aside 41 of the 45 shots the Rock directed his way, was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The three stars of Saturday night’s contest were McArthur, Riley and Nemeth … The Rock went 0-6 on the power play Saturday, while the Storm were 1-7 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the Jus Jordan Arena Saturday was 611 … Saturday’s other action the Eagles hold off the Powassan Voodoos 3-2 in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., the Greater Sudbury Cubs blank the Rapids 6-0 in Sudbury and the Soo Thunderbirds credited with a 1-0 forfeit win over the Elliot Lake Vikings … The Rock will return to action on Thursday when they host the Soo Eagles at the McIntyre Arena, at 7 p.m. The game was originally schedule for Sunday, but has been moved to accommodate Mushkegowuk Cup action.
