COCHRANE, Ont. – The Timmins Rock broke open a tie game by notching a trio of tallies in the back half of the third period to lift them to a 5-2 triumph over the Cochrane Crunch Wednesday night in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair at Tim Horton Events Centre.
Special teams helped Cochrane get on the board midway through the first period as some crisp passing across the Timmins zone saw Ryan Hunter feed Sebastien Ouimet parked in the slot where he whipped in his 10th tally of the campaign by beating Rock starter Tyler Masternak.
The visitors would collect the equalizer with 4:25 left in the first frame when Riley Robitaille banked one in from the left of Crunch netminder Michael Nickolau off a left point shot via the stick of Felix Cadieux-Fredette.
A late power play aided in the guests going in front before the period expired as Cadieux-Fredette wristed one from the top of the left circle that flew past Nickolau to collect his first NOJHL goal.
In the second stanza, neither side would score as the clubs hit the intermission with Timmins still holding a one-goal lead.
The Crunch would draw level on a four-on-three man advantage half way through the third as Jackson Grozelle split a pair of defenders and got it over to Matteo Peca who lifted in a short side back hand on past Masternuk.
However, the Rock countered quickly to regain the lead just over a minute later as Harry Clark banged in his own rebound from the top of the crease for the eventual game-winner.
They then got some insurance a couple of shifts after that with Graeme McCrory putting a crisp cross-ice feed over to Zach Smith, who quickly put one in right side on Nickolau.
Josh Dickson then helped secure the road victory as he slid in a backhand from the left wing into an empty net to round out the night’s scoring.
Nicolas Pigeon chipped in with two assists for Timmins as he had his fifth multi-point night of the season. Landon DeForge also had a pair of helpers to aid his team’s offensive cause.
A 22-save effort helped Masternak pick up the win while Nickolau made 49 stops in defeat.
The teams will meet again Thursday night in an 8:30 p.m. start as the Rock host it at McIntyre Arena and on HockeyTV.com.
Game Photos:
Thomas Perry – The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
