Photos: Hélène Rancourt
BLIND RIVER, Ont. – Ryder Hill’s team-leading 14th goal of the season, that came on a man advantage 1:44 into the third period, proved to be the game-winner as the Blind River Beavers went on to edge the Espanola Paper Kings 5-3 in a see-saw Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League encounter Saturday at the Blind River Community Centre.
Needing just 93 seconds to score first, Jason Galante put the Paper Kings in front as he chased down a long-range dump-in by Carter Makasoff that bounced nicely out to him off the end boards and put a shot through Beavers’ netminder Justin Sullivan.
Answering with an equalizer, Caleb Walker drew the home side level when he darted down the right wing and after cutting around a defender, snapped an attempt past goalkeeper Carter Arnold.
After Callum Millar put Espanola back on top at 15:01 with a well-paced wrister over the shoulder of Sullivan, while moving into the middle, Armando Rojo-Bolton tied it for Blind River before the intermission as he tipped in a Mattis Lafond attempt from the left point.
Another early Galante effort in the second stanza gave the Paper Kings the lead once more, when he chopped in a bouncing puck off a scrambled draw in the Beavers’ end.
Continuing to go back and forth, Leighton Hurst tied the match-up once more when the Blind River defenceman joined a rush and slammed in a rebound off a solid Danny MacDonald dash down the right wing.
Still knotted into the third, it was the hosts turn to take the lead when Ryder Hill connected on a man advantage as he made a nice toe drag in the right circle and proceeded to send a sizzler past the blocker of Arnold.
Staying 4-3 until the late going, Espanola got their goaltender out for another skater to try and tie it and force overtime, however Ethan McLean secured the home-ice victory with an empty net effort in the final minute to finish off the scoring.
The win raises the Beavers’ record to 12-21-0-4 overall and in defeat, the Paper Kings fall to 21-15-1-2.
