Photos: Hélène Rancourt
BLIND RIVER, Ont. – The Blind River Beavers rebounded from an early three-tally deficit, then battled back to force overtime, before eventually prevailing 4-3 in a shootout Saturday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League meeting at the Blind River Community Centre.
Elliot Lake, skating in their first NOJHL contest since mid-December of 2024, kicked off their campaign by scoring 3:24 into the first period on a marker from Kieran Prichett.
Not done there, Prichett potted another just over a minute later as he clicked on the power play in beating Blind River starter Samuel Carreiras-Pata.
He then completed a natural hat trick at 8:40, as he scored once again, to see his impressive NOJHL debut continue.
That resulted in a goaltending change for the Beavers as back-up Ian Blair entered in relief.
The home side got one back in the back half of the session with Wyatt Jarratt putting them on the board to make it 3-1 after one, for his first in the league, as his chance eluded Vikings’ starter Jacob Kirstein.
Moving to the second stanza, Jake Bond brought the Beavers even closer at 4:47 by notching his initial NOJHL goal to make it 3-2 after 40 minutes.
In the third, Blind River pulled even in the final minute of regulation in dramatic fashion as Ryder Hill converted on a penalty shot at 19:31 to force extra time.
From there, the return of the five-minute OT went scoreless, sending it to extra shots, which is also back in league action this season.
In the shootout, the home side eventually won it in a session that went five attempts apiece for each club before it was completed.
After Dylan Waduck connected for Elliot Lake on their fourth opportunity, Caleb Walker did likewise for Blind River.
Then after a Vikings’ miss, Ilian Danilov converted for the Beavers to win it and give them the extra point on the night.
Blind River plays again Sunday afternoon as they host Kirkland Lake at 1 p.m. while Elliot Lake’s next action will be Saturday as they visit the Soo Thunderbirds in a 7 p.m. start.
