Capitalizing on a three-goal second period, the Soo Eagles rode that to an eventual 5-2 victory over the Blind River Beavers Tuesday, October 28th in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League get-together at the Blind River Community Centre.
The Beavers began the scoring on the power play, just over eight minutes into the matchup, when defenceman Mattis Lafond fired a shot from up high that clipped off Zach Holeschek parked in front and got past Eagles’ netminder Jace Knoerle for his first NOJHL goal.
Notching an equalizer just prior to the first intermission, Sault Ste. Marie’s Lucas Caulfield snagged a loose puck near the Blind River blueline then skated in on the left side and ripped a short-side sizzler by goalkeeper Mason Janicki.
In the second stanza, the Eagles then took the lead 1:42 in when they broke out of their own zone on a two-on-one where Alex Povorozniouk fed a feed over to a hard-charging Ethan Hoff who put his chance through the legs of Janicki.
That saw the Beavers opt to make a goaltending change with backup Justin Sullivan entering in relief.
More from the Soo later in the session saw them extend their cushion as they worked a quick three-way passing play in close that led to Povorozniouk pumping in his third of the season.
The Eagles kept coming and took a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes after Coulson Bell generated a turnover in the neutral zone then worked a give-and-go with Dominic Cicco prior to taking a return feed and cutting to his left and sliding one past Sullivan.
Extending their cushion in the final frame with a unassisted shorthanded effort, Nolan Nemecek swooped in after a Blind River skater lost an edge at centre ice, then proceeded to move in and wire a shot upstairs from the right side.
The Beavers got one back in the late going when Caleb Walker picked off a clearing attempt and snapped it over the glove of Knoerle at 17:18, in what was the night’s final tally.
With the road triumph, the Soo improves to 5-12-0-1 and in defeat, Blind River falls to 4-9-0-2.
Source: NOJHL
