Photos: Allyson Demers
KIRKLAND LAKE, Ont. – A solid start, that featured four first-period goals was enough to see the Blind River Beavers defeat the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 5-2 Friday night in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.
Blind River opened the scoring midway through the first period as they intercepted a clearing attempt which allowed Joshua Thompson to move in alone on Kirkland Lake starter John Lloyd and make a quick deke to his left prior to lifting the puck over the blocker of the sprawling goalkeeper.
Not done there, Thompson tacked on another just over a minute later, during a power play, as he tipped in a Matthew Green point shot while parked in the slot.
It was more from the Beavers at 12:14 when they forced another turnover, which allowed Meguire Naughton to set-up an open Gavin Rocha, who made no mistake from close range.
The early onslaught continued with Blind River making it 4-0 before the intermission as Jacob Kovacs put one by Lloyd from between the hashmarks.
Second period play saw the Beavers add to their lead as Green completed an Evan Fraccaro feed with the assist helping him extend a point streak to seven games in a row.
The Gold Miners did get one back at 12:35, compliments of Aaron Bertschinger’s initial NOJHL goal as he connected in his league debut by jamming in a second attempt off a goal-mouth scramble on Blind River netminder Charlie Burns.
Moving to the final frame, Kirkland Lake converted once more with 5:19 remaining as Chance DeBolt got a piece of a rising shot from up top by Cameron Allen, in what proved to be the evening’s final goal.
Both clubs are right back at it Saturday with Blind River travelling to Powassan while the Gold Miners host Espanola in a pair of 7 p.m. starts, which will both be streamed on HockeyTV.com.