IROQUOIS FALLS, Ont. – An Alex Bedic marker with 31 seconds remaining in regulation proved to be the deciding tally as the Iroquois Falls Storm edged the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 2-1 Sunday in a tightly-contested Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League Sunday matinee at Jus Jordan Arena.
The best chance to get on the board first went to the Storm’s Simon Lemieux midway through the opening frame when he got around a defender and fired a shot that eluded Gold Miners’ starter Glen McInnes, but it rang off the post and bounced wide.
It was Kirkland Lake who eventually began the scoring however off a scrambled draw that allowed Mavrick Boucher to jump into the left circle and send a shot over the blocker of Iroquois Falls netminder Lucas Cardiff-Bilodeau, just over 16 minutes into the session.
Pulling even on a late five-on-three, the home side tied it at 19:42 when Lemieux worked a quick give-and-go down low that allowed Mathieu Ouellette to move out from the goal line and slide a shot under McInnes for his 14th of the season.
Action in the second period went scoreless as the contest remained knotted at 1-1 through 40 minutes.
Moving to the third, play in the frame saw the Storm generate chances, then with overtime looming, Bedic bagged the game-winner as he swatted in a loose puck off an attempt put off the pad of McInnes by Rafek Dianov, during a goal-mouth frenzy, in the waning moments to help secure the victory.
With the outcome, Iroquois Falls improves to 12-23-2-3 overall, while with the late setback, Kirkland Lake drops to 12-24-0-4.
