GALLERY: Manov pots pair in Beavers victory over Storm

Photos: Helene Rancourt

BLIND RIVER, Ont. – Andrey Manov’s power play tally half way through the third period proved to be the game-winner as the Blind River Beavers went on to down the Iroquois Falls Storm 3-1 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League afternoon match-up Sunday at the Blind River Community Centre.

Despite having a big edge in play in the opening 20 minutes, the Beavers could not put one past Storm starter Connor Dunham-Fox as the two clubs went to the dressing room still awaiting a goal.

In the second stanza, Blind River eventually broke the deadlock after catching Iroquois Falls on a line change, then saw Ethan Birt send a pass up ice to Josh Thompson who went dashing to the net, then sent a feed across to a hard-charging Michael Gallagher, who guided it past Dunham-Fox at 11:07.

Staying 1-0 for the home side into the final frame, they collected some insurance via the power play midway through when Tyler Vorstadt’s spinning back pass allowed defenceman Manov to cruise into the left circle where he fired a low shot under the Storm goalkeeper.

Cutting into the deficit just over a minute later, Alex Chewanish put the guests on the board as his picked up the rebound off a Lucas Peever chance then used a toe drag before lifting one over a downed Noah Tegelaar in the Beavers’ net.

Staying that way until just before time expired, Manov secured the victory for Blind River off a shorthanded, empty netter from his own zone to round out the scoring.

With the result, the Beavers move to 5-1-0-0 on the season while the Storm have now dropped three straight and fell to 3-3-0-0.