GALLERY: Offensive outburst helps Rock roll over visiting Gold Miners

Timmins Rock forward Kaeden McArthur drills a shot past Kirkland Lake Gold Miners goalie Matis Bureau Morel, for his seventh goal of the season, 30 seconds into the first period of Thursday night’s NOJHL contest at the McIntyre Arena. McArthur added his eighth goal of the season later in the frame and the Rock went on to defeat the Gold Miners 9-1. THOMAS PERRY/THE DAILY PRESS jpg, TD, apsmc

The Timmins Rock scored early and often en route to a 9-1 win over the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners at the McIntyre Arena Thursday night.


Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network


In fact, it took the Rock just 30 seconds to get on the scoreboard, as Kaeden McArthur beat Gold Miners goalie Matis Bureau Morel for the first of his two goals in the contest and seventh of the season.

The Rock added three more first-period tallies to take command of the contest.

Alexis Tremblay netted a power-play marker, his fourth goal of the season, shortly past the midway mark in the frame. It would stand up to be the game-winner.

McArthur added another power-play marker, his second goal of the period and eighth of the campaign, three-and-a-half minutes later.

But the back-breaker appeared to be Clark Scaddan’s first NOJHL goal, an unassisted marker scored with just 7.52 seconds remaining in the period.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors 10 seconds into the middle frame when Lucas Lowe scored his third tally of the season to increase the Rock advantage to five goals.

Reece Liu then roofed a shot over Bureau Morel’s shoulder from in close for his third goal of the campaign less than three minutes later to make it a 6-0 hockey game.

That marked the end of Bureau Morel’s night, as Kael Moberg came on in relief for the Gold Miners.

The move produced a slight shift in momentum, as the Gold Miners got on the scoreboard three-and-a-half minutes later, with Tyler Corbett netting a power-play marker, his fourth goal of the season.

Henry McLellan’s first of two goals on the night and third of the season gave the Rock the momentum back before the end of the period, however, and they took a 7-1 lead into the dressing room for the second intermission.

The third period saw the Rock continue their offensive outburst, with Dawson Boily netting his first career NOJHL goal, a power-play marker.

McLellan then closed out the scoring when he netted his second tally of the night and fourth of the season, with the Rock once again on the power play.

Rock coach and general manager Brandon Perry was happy to see his squad snap its modest two-game losing skid.

“I thought it was a good effort from our group, from start to finish,” he said.

Indeed, the Rock won the majority of the puck battles in the contest and were first to reach loose pucks more often than not.

“Most nights, that’s a good indication of success,” Perry said. “You get a first touch on loose pucks, win those races, it drives offence.”

The coach was impressed with what he saw from most, if not all, Rock players Thursday night, but especially the game’s first star.

“Henry McLellan has been fantastic all season, probably our most consistent forward, energy wise,” Perry said.

“He is always flying around out there, so it was nice to see him get a couple of goals tonight. He gets a lot of chances, so it was nice to see them go in tonight.”

The coach was pleased, as well, to see the Rock’s two newest players, Boily and Scaddan, pick up their initial NOJHL markers, although in latter’s case offence is what attracted the team to him.

“I told (Boily) on the bench, you do things right all game, you are going to get rewarded,” Perry said.

“There were a couple of other chances he left on the table and he was a little frustrated they didn’t go in, bad bounces or whatever, but he played the game the right way. He is a bull and he protects the puck, he is extremely strong.”

The line of Lowe, McArthur and Scaddan was certainly effective and with a little more luck they might have doubled their goal totals.

“With those guys, if they decide they want to work harder than other teams there are not too many lines in this league who are going to be able to stop them,” Perry said.

“They had an attack mentality tonight and every time the puck dropped, they were going. All three of them got rewarded.”

The coach like what he saw from Liu and Tremblay Thursday night, as well.

“Reece had been getting a lot of chances the last few games, a lot of our guys were, but some goalies came in here and were pretty hot,” Perry said.

“So, it was nice to see those guys find a way to put them home tonight. Tremblay does things right every single night. He is going to be a great player for years to come.”

Aaron Shaw picked up a pair of assists in Thursday night’s contest, but it was his play away from the puck that made the biggest impression on his coach.

“He was great tonight, I thought it was his best game all season,” Perry said.

“He is really well respected in our room and when he has success guys are extremely happy for him. It’s just a testament to his character and who he is as a person.”

In a 9-1 hockey game, the blue-liners and goalie often get overlooked, but not by their coach.

“I thought our D corps, as a whole, did a fantastic job and I thought Dryds (goalie Dryden Riley) was solid when he had to be,” Perry said. “Games like this are tough on a goalie. It was really nice to have our captain (Tenzin Nyman) back, as well.”

Nyman had been out nearly a month while recovering from an upper-body injury.

McLellan was all smiles following Thursday night’s contest, as he is now just one goal shy of the five he posted as a rookie last season.

“I was playing with Aaron Shaw and Travis Poan tonight and I think it was our hard work that determined how things were going to go for us,” he said.

“We were pretty relentless on pucks and we just didn’t want to give up on anything out there.

“On my first goal, I was just kind of hanging around the net and there was a shot from the point and I just tipped it in, went off a guy in front. The second one, I just saw the net on the power play and just shot it.”

McLellan agreed he is playing with more confidence this season, as he is feeling more comfortable with his role on the team.

“The biggest difference from last year is knowing I can make plays without worrying about messing up,” he said.

“It is definitely paying off for me and for my linemates.”

Riley stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced to earn his sixth win of the season.

Bureau Morel, who turned aside 13 of the 19 shots the Rock directed his way during his 23:06 of work, was tagged with the loss, while Moberg blocked 17 of the 20 shots he faced in his 36:54 of relief.

NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of the game were McLellan, McArthur and Lowe … The Rock went 4-9 on the power play, while the Gold Miners were 1-2 with the man advantage … Gold Miners coach Kyle Adams was ejected from the game with 2:54 remaining in the third period for abusive behavior … The Rock traded forward Jaden Lyons to the Iroquois Falls Storm in exchange for a player development fee on Wednesday … Official attendance at the McIntyre Arena was 721 … Thursday’s only other contest saw the Cubs edge the Blind River Beavers 4-3 in Greater Sudbury … The Gold Miners will return to action when they host the Powassan Voodoos at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex on Saturday, at 7 p.m.