COCHRANE, Ont. – A trio of third period tallies helped the Cochrane Crunch prevail with a 5-2 triumph over the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners Saturday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League encounter at Tim Horton Events Centre.
The lone goal of the first period was provided by Cochrane’s Trent Grimshaw who connected on the power play at 18:23.
Heading into the second stanza, the two sides traded markers late in the session with Christian Snyder tying it Kirkland Lake, during a man advantage, at 17:02 only to see Justin Bofshever counter a minute later to put the Crunch back on top after two periods of play.
Caleb Dolman then made it 3-1 for the home side 57 seconds into the third before teammate Austin Whelan added another shortly afterwards to put Cochrane up by three.
Gregory Trudeau-Paquet brought the Gold Miners closer with eight and a half minutes remaining, but Jacob Stos iced it with a late empty netter to help secure the Crunch victory.
Shots on goal in the contest saw Shayne Battler make 31 saves to record the win for Cochrane.
Kirkland Lake goaltender Gregory Brassard suffered the loss allowing four against on 32 attempts while Dawson Rodin handled all 10 shots he saw in close to 17 minutes of relief.