TIMMINS, Ont. – Josh Dickson tallied twice, including picking up the winner, as the Timmins Rock went on to defeat the Hearst Lumberjacks 5-2 Wednesday evening in Game 1 of their Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League East Division semifinal series at McIntyre Arena with 1,049 fans on hand.
Timmins set the pace in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Hearst 11-6 in the session while outscoring them 2-0.
Tyler Schwindt got the Rock going 14:48 into the contest as he finished off an Owen Shier set-up.
Dickson then potted his initial tally of the evening a couple of shifts later as the hosts hit the intermission up by a pair.
The Rock came out fast in the middle stanza, with Dickson drilling one home just six seconds into the period to extend the lead to three.
Past the midway point of the game, Jordyn Mughal put the Lumberjacks on the board at 11:41 to make it a 3-1 score entering the third.
In the final stanza, Hearst pulled closer with Olivier Cloutier-Faucher connecting on the power play at 5:22 to narrow the gap.
However, Zach Smith answered that for Timmins three minutes later.
They then capped off the triumph with a late empty netter from Riley Robitialle to round out the scoring.
Rock captain Derek Seguin chipped in with three assists on the night.
Shots on goal finished up 29-14 in favour of Timmins with Tyler Masternak picking up the win while Liam Oxner suffered the defeat.
Game 2 in this best-of-seven affair goes Friday at 7 p.m. back at the Mac.
Game Photos: Andrew Autio
East Division semifinal
No. 2 Timmins Rock vs. No. 3 Hearst Lumberjacks
Timmins leads best-of-seven series 1-0
Game 1: Rock 5 Lumberjacks 2
Game 2: Friday, March 13 @ Timmins 7 p.m. (McIntyre Arena)
Game 3: Sunday, March 15 @ Hearst 7 p.m. (Claude Larose Arena)
Game 4: Tuesday, March 17 @ Hearst 7 p.m. (Claude Larose Arena)
Game 5*: Thursday, March 19 @ Timmins 7 p.m. (McIntyre Arena)
Game 6*: Saturday, March 21 @ Hearst 7 p.m. (Claude Larose Arena)
Game 7*: Monday, March 23 @ Timmins 7 p.m. (McIntyre Arena)
*-if necessary
