Photos: Allyson Demers
KIRKLAND LAKE, Ont. – Blasting open a one-goal game with seven unanswered tallies, the Hearst Lumberjacks went on to dump the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 9-1 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League Sunday matinee at Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.
An early man advantage helped the Lumberjacks to strike first when Brandon Tronchin slammed in a second chance he had from close range, in beating Gold Miners’ starter Braydon Garnhart at 3:19.
The potent Hearst power play went to work once more and put the guests up by a pair 11 minutes later and saw Mason Bazaluk tip-in a crisp feed across the crease by teammate Mason Svarich.
Cutting into the deficit just as a Lumberjacks penalty was expiring, Samuel De Mauro made a sharp pass across to a waiting John-Paul Scaringi, who snapped in his seventh of the season, with a shot from the right circle as he put one by netminder Ethan Dinsdale.
The visitors came right back though and made it 3-1 at 5:26 off a turnover and saw Tyler Patterson connect for a sixth time, in as many games, as he finished off a one-timer from the slot that Garnhart had little chance on.
Breaking the game open, Hearst notched three more markers in rapid succession to go up by a half dozen.
Emile Pichette began the outburst with another extra-man effort for his club as Mathieu Comeau left him the puck and saw him move in from the point and pick up his 13th of the season.
Not done there, the Lumberjacks kept coming and put the game out of reach as Svarich, Cody Walker and Riley Klugerman all found the back of the net from close proximity.
Taking their big lead into the final frame, Ethan Kitsch added to it for Hearst as he was left alone in front and had plenty of time to lift in his fourth of the campaign over a sprawled Gold Miners’ goalkeeper at 5:38.
Caleb Labelle then completed the one-sided result with his first NOJHL goal, which came in the final minute, with his team’s fourth power play effort of the contest.
Back-up Kaleb Papineau did see a few minutes of relief action in the second period for the visitors after Dinsdale departed briefly for some equipment repair.
With the outcome, Hearst raised their record to 20-7-2-0 while Kirkland Lake dropped to 3-24-1-0.