Kirkland Lake tops Espanola in NOJHL preseason opener

ESPANOLA, Ont. – After falling behind early, the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners countered with five unanswered goals to pull out a 5-1 victory over the Espanola Express Tuesday evening in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League preseason opener at the Regional Recreation Complex.

Action in the first period saw the hometown Express notch the night’s initial tally, which came off the stick of Espanola’s Liam Bridgeman, with help from James Eng and Ben Couvier, midway through the frame.

Kirkland Lake regrouped in the middle stanza as they scored three times in the session to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.

Lucas Renzoni drew the Gold Miners level at 4:30 while teammate Alex McDonald collected the eventual game-winner less than a minute later.

The visitors tacked on another deep into the period when Gabe Davis clicked on the power play at 17:57.

Renzoni picked up his second of the night with a man advantage effort in the third before Dakota Seaman finished things off offensively to round out the scoring.

Chipping in with two assists in the Kirkland Lake triumph was Ryan Evenhuis.

Zach Reddy, selected the game’s first star, earned the win in net for the Gold Miners while Patrick Boivin of the Express suffered the loss.