Photos: Northern Lights Photography
HEARST, Ont. –The Hearst Lumberjacks saw Emile Pichette score four times while goaltender Kaleb Papineau posted his first Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League shutout Saturday as part of an 8-0 romp over the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners at Claude Larose Recreation Centre.
Hearst began the scoring 4:42 into the contest as Zachary Demers intercepted a clearing attempt then wheeled into the corner where he sent a feed in front to Mason Svarich, who picked the bottom left corner on Kirkland Lake starter Braydon Garnhart, for his 25th tally of the season.
The Lumberjacks then added another at 12:04 as defenceman Noah Janicki pinched in from the left side and took a cross-ice pass that he quickly whipped high over the blocker of Garnhart to put the hosts up by a pair.
Adding a third before the intermission, Mathieu Comeau won a draw over to Pichette, who it turn skated to the slot and around a defender before firing in his 23rd goal of 2022-23.
Adding to their lead early in the middle session, Liam Rampersad slammed in a rebound off a Jett Mintenko blast from the slot that Garnhart could only get a piece of.
Putting the game out of reach in the third, Pichette potted three to complete his big night while Cameron Shepheard also scored as part of easy triumph.
The outcome sees Hearst move to 34-11-2-0 while last place Kirkland Lake sank to 5-42-1-0 on the season.
