BLIND RIVER, Ont. – A Sam Taylor wrist shot from the point, with under two minutes remaining, found its way in from distance to help the Hearst Lumberjacks pull out an eventual 5-3 victory over the Blind River Beavers Saturday night in an action-packed Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair at the Blind River Recreation Centre.
It was the visiting Lumberjacks who opened the scoring midway through the first period when Tyler Patterson knuckled in his 28th of the season from the right of Beavers’ starter Bronx Bodnar off a give-and-go with Mathieu Comeau.
Capitalizing off a turnover, Hearst took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission after Liam Boswell fed an open Dylan Garvin in front who quickly pumped in his chance high glove-side.
Heading into the middle frame, Owen King connected in the late going for Blind River as he came down the right wing and ripped in his NOJHL-leading 47th goal of the season.
Moving to the third period, the Lumberjacks went back up by two after Chase Thompson stuffed in a loose puck that had leaked through Bodnar at 7:23.
Answering immediately, more magic from King saw him strike twice in a 24-second span to knot the affair at 3-3.
His second of the evening had him slam in a rebound off a Nicholas MacIsaac point shot.
That goal also established a Blind River team record for the most goals in a season with 48.
Not done there, King was quick to collect one more by taking a YooBin pass and firing it past Boivin in notching his 49th.
King now has a league-leading seven hat tricks on the campaign.
Hearst however rebounded in the late going to pull out the road victory when defenceman Taylor whipped in the game-winner from up top with 1:38 remaining.
The Lumberjacks then capped off the result when Thompson fired one into an empty net from his own zone, in the last minute, to finalize the frenzied affair.
