ELLIOT LAKE, Ont. – Marc-Antoine Arseneau had a pair of third period goals, including the game-winner, to help lift the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners to a 4-3 road victory over the Elliot Lake Wildcats Friday evening in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at Centennial Arena.
Each side would score once in the opening 20 minutes with Kirkland Lake’s Joel Fortin supplying his sixth of the season at 13:28 of the first while Elliot Lake’s Liam Blais countered 61 seconds later notching his fifth of the campaign.
Both teams then picked up power play markers in the middle stanza to knot the affair at 2-2 through 40 minutes with Chad Lopez burying a man advantage marker at 4:51 for the Wildcats and Jamey Lauzon had one for the Gold Miners four minutes later.
Arseneau then struck twice in the third for Kirkland Lake notching a power play effort at 7:58 then one at even strength with just under nine minutes remaining in regulation.
Elliot Lake moved to within one with 41 seconds to go thanks to Alec MacKenzie, but’s that’s as close as they home side would get before time expired.
Victor-Olivier Courchesne made 26 stops to record the win in his NOJHL debut for the Gold Miners while Aaron MacKay faced 30 shots in the loss for the Wildcats.
The Miners cross the border tomorrow to face the Soo Eagles.
