Reddy brothers combine for shutout as Gold Miners blank Crunch

KIRKLAND LAKE, Ont. – The Kirkland Lake Gold Miners goaltending brother combo of Zachary and Kohl Reddy combined to stop all 29 shots they faced to backstop their side to a 5-0 shutout victory over the Cochrane Crunch Friday in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.

Neither side converted offensively in a scoreless first period with Cochrane’s Michael Nickolau making 13 stops while Kirkland Lake’s Zachary Reddy, making his NOJHL debut, turned aside 11.

Moving to the middle stanza, the Gold Miners would strike first 2:45 in as Logan Gallagher wheeled out of the corner and snapped a shot past a scrum in front to give the home side the lead during a man advantage opportunity.

Not down there, Kirkland Lake added to their lead three minutes later, while up another skater, with Camille Marcoux whipping one in from the slot.

A third extra-man effort in the period resulted after Seth Coulter teed one up for Marcoux in the right circle, where he calmly buried his second of session.

They hosts then added one at even strength late in the second as Casey Gerstein cut in from the left wing boards and wristed in his first of the season.

In the third, the Miners added some insurance eight and a half minutes in with Kyler Campbell skating up the left wing before using a Crunch defender as a screen and firing a shot that eluded Nickolau off the screen to wrap things up offensively.

A lower body issue after that resulted in Reddy having to give way to back-up and his older brother Kohl the final 13 and a half minutes of the contest.

In all, Zachary handled each of the 21 shots he saw while Kohl saved all eight attempts fired his way in relief.

As for Nickolau, he saw 31 pucks put in his direction in defeat.

The two teams will meet again Saturday in a 7 p.m. start at Tim Horton Events Centre in Cochrane with the game being aired on HockeyTV.com.

Game Photos: Allyson Demers