TIMMINS, Ont. – The Timmins Rock got two goals apiece from Brady Harroun and Justin Charette to help lead them to a 5-2 triumph over the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League encounter Tuesday at McIntyre Arena.
A strong forecheck helped Timmins begin the night’s scoring, five and a half minutes into the proceedings.
On the play, Lucas Piekarczyk forced a Gold Miners’ defender to hurry a pass behind the net that was picked off by Nicolas Pigeon, who sent a backhand in front that was promptly buried by Harroun into the top right-hand corner for his NOJHL-leading 24th goal of the season.
As for the assist, it helped Pigeon extend a current league-high point streak to 16 in succession.
Going to the power play, the home side made it 2-0 at 15:47 when defenceman Brandon Rossetti moved in and lifted a loose puck over a sprawled Kirkland Lake netminder Braydon Garnhart during a goal-mouth scramble.
Taking their lead into the first intermission, Timmins struck shorthanded to go up by three in the middle stanza as Nolan Ring won a race to the puck and set-up Charette in the slot, who whipped his chance upstairs on Garnhart.
The Gold Miners got themselves on the board midway through the match-up as Taye Ladislao put one in front from behind the goal line that clipped off a Rock defender and bounced past goalkeeper Jacob Brown.
Answering right back though, Harroun buried his second of the night and 25th of the campaign, just 18 seconds, later as he finished off a three-way passing play with Piekarczyk and Pigeon.
Pulling back to within two, Chance DeBolt banked one in from a sharp angle after a fortuitous bounce off the end boards went his way at 13:47.
Adding some insurance in the final frame, Charette took a Kaeden McArthur cross-ice pass then went top shelf over the blocker of Garnhart to give him two markers on the evening, in rounding out the evening’s scoring.
Having gone 12-0-1-1 since the beginning of November, the now 23-5-3-2 overall, the Rock surpassed the 50-point plateau on the season, with their 51 trailing only the NOJHL-league Greater Sudbury Cubs’ 52, who do hold a number of games in hand.
Game Photos:
Thomas Perry – The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
