The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) Showcase began with three contests that featured a series of high-scoring games and a shutout performance.
Paper Kings withstand Rapids rally
The Espanola Paper Kings defeated the French River Rapids 5-4, securing the win despite a late comeback attempt.
Espanola established a 4-1 lead by the midway point of the second period. Graydon Guthrie and Lucas Dubois scored in the first, followed by two goals from Joseph Coates in the second. Coates’ goals extended his point streak to 11 consecutive games.
Joey Stiles scored for French River to end the shutout.
Espanola’s Owen Smith netted the eventual game-winner early in the third period, putting the Paper Kings up 5-1. However, the Rapids responded with three unanswered goals from Michael Morascyzk, Tristan Kitchen, and Jacob Cantin to cut the deficit to 5-4.
A late penalty against French River sealed the victory for Espanola.
Storm wins OT thriller with penalty shot
The Iroquois Falls Storm overcame a deficit to defeat the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 4-3 in overtime, with the game decided by a penalty shot.
Kirkland Lake took a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Aaron Leenaars and Rafek Dianov. Iroquois Falls responded with a power-play goal from Benjamin Coupal, his eighth of the season.
The Storm tied the game early in the second with a breakaway goal from Mathieu Ouellette, but Kirkland Lake regained the lead on a goal from Daniel Rusu. With the goaltender pulled in the final minute of regulation, Ben Sherwin tied the game for the Storm.
The game concluded 43 seconds into overtime when Lucas Willoughby forced a turnover, leading to a penalty shot. Willoughby scored the game-winner, extending his personal point streak to seven games.
Rock shutout Lumberjacks
The Timmins Rock delivered a dominant 6-0 performance against the Hearst Lumberjacks. Rock goaltender Ayden Mullen secured his first NOJHL shutout.
Timmins’ offence came from six different skaters. Kimani Eccleston, making his NOJHL debut, opened the scoring. Brant Romaniuk added another goal in the first.
The Rock increased the lead with two power-play goals in the second period from Victor Hourtouat and Maxfeld Shin. Kaeden McArthur and Thomas Beard completed the scoring in the third period.
Hearst goaltender Alexandre Boivin was peppered with shots throughout the contest.