Photos: Cassy Seguin
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
FRENCH RIVER — The Timmins Rock’s offence kicked into high gear at the Noelville Arena Saturday night, as they swamped the Rapids 9-1.
It was the conclusion of a two-game regular-season opening weekend road trip that saw them knock off the Voodoos 5-1 in Powassan Friday night.
And for the second-straight game, it was Jack Kelly who netted the game-winning goal, this time a power-play marker.
Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry was, for the most part, pleased with what he saw from his squad during the two-game road trip.
“Obviously, we are happy with the results, the guys played hard,” he said. “It was a little sloppy, which is to be expected at this time of the year. We will get back to work on Sunday and clean up some stuff.”
The Rock jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period of Saturday night’s contest and never looked back.
Ryan Armitage got the puck rolling when he scored his second goal of the season 2:26 into the contest.
The Rapids got back on even terms just over two minutes later when Michael Christopoulos scored his first goal of the season.
But Kelly put the Rock back in front to stay when he notched his second goal of the campaign.
And Brant Romaniuk expanded the Rock advantage when he netted his third goal of the season with just three seconds remaining in the opening frame.
Hayden Rynard picked up his second goal of the season 41 seconds into the second period.
Newcomer Ryan Boon then added the first goal of his NOJHL career to expand the Rock lead.
And just over a minute later Kaeden McArthur scored the first of his two goals in the game and on the season to send the Rock to the dressing room for the second intermission up 6-1.
The Rock offence continued to click on all cylinders when the puck dropped to start the third period, as Thomas Beard added his first goal of the season 4:36 into the frame.
McArthur added his second goal of the game and season less than two minutes later.
Aaron Shaw, seeing his first game action since suiting up with the TU18HL’s Schumacher Cubs during the 2021-22 campaign, then closed out the scoring by adding his first goal of the season just shy of the midway point in the period.
If there had been one question mark regarding the Rock heading into the regular season, it was who would step up to pick up some of the offensive slack created by the departures of Mason Svarich, Harry Clark and Liam Wells.
That question was clearly answered, as the Rock put up 14 goals during the two-game road trip.
“Our top guys, (Lucas) Lowe, McArthur and Romaniuk are as skilled as anybody in the league,” Perry said. “They will find ways to produce, so I wasn’t worried about them.
“Then you have got Kelly, Rynard and Beard, those three guys play the game the right way every single night. So, I knew they were going to produce and it was nice to see some young guys, some new guys stepping up and getting on the scoresheet.
“Obviously, it is just one weekend and two games, but it is definitely a step in the right direction and a start we welcome.”
The coach was impressed with a number of the new Rock skaters in the pair of weekend victories, as well.
“Aaron Shaw had a goal and an assist in his first regular-season game,” Perry said.
“During the first period, he looked a little out of his element but I had a good conversation with him during the first intermission and he was fantastic in the back 40 minutes of this game. He went to the net so hard and you could tell as things started happening for him, he was starting to realize, ‘hey, I can still do this.’ Then, as the game went on, he got better and better and his confidence grew. He went to the net hard and got rewarded with a great pass from (Alexis) Tremblay.
“He drove the middle on Ryan Boon’s goal, as well. He tipped the puck on net and the rebound was sitting there and Booner banged it it.”
Prior to the season, the coach had expressed confidence in the Rock’s blue-line and its two young goaltenders and that strength was clearly on display in both weekend contests.
“Our D corps is pretty deep,” Perry said. “Obviously, we have some things to clean up in terms of our gaps and not letting guys get behind us, but they were great back there.
“Obviously, Dryden Riley has been absolutely fantastic. I haven’t seen that kid play a bad game since he got here. He was so solid and so steady in both games this weekend.”
The Rock have 24 bodies in camp but the coach managed to get all of them into action in at least one of the two games, with the exception of backup netminder Graham Gee whose time will come.
“That’s the tough part right now when everybody’s healthy,” Perry said. “Everybody can play, especially on our D where we have eight guys back there, which means we have two really good D sitting every night. It’s not easy to manage because guys want to play every single night, but it’s a very long season. We went through it last season when we had a ton of injuries, so it’s about managing minutes right now and making sure guys are healthy in the long run.”
Riley stopped 42 of the 43 shots he faced to earn his second win of the season.
Rapids starting netminder Carter Vicente, who turned aside 30 of the 36 shots the Rock directed his way during his 37:57 of action, was tagged with the loss. Brock Grein blocked 17 of the 20 shots he faced in his 22:03 of relief.
NOJHL NOTES — The three stars of Saturday night’s game were McArthur, Beard and Kelly, while Romaniuk, Lowe (two assists) and McCoy were selected Friday night … The Rock went 1-5 on the power play, while the Rapids were 0-4 with the man advantage Saturday night. Friday night, the Rock went 0-4 on the power play, while the Voodoos were 0-1 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the Noelville Arena Saturday night was 207, while 179 fans attended Friday night’s contest at the Powassan Sportsplex … Saturday’s other action saw Beavers double up the Hearst Lumberjacks 6-3 in Blind River, the Storm blast the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 8-3 in Iroquois Falls, the Voodoos double up the Elliot Lake Vikings 4-2 in Powassan and the Thunderbirds edge the Soo Eagles 4-3 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., … The Rock will return home to host the Voodoos for their home opener at the McIntyre Arena on Friday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m.
