Kirkland Lake completes comeback with OT triumph vs. French River

KIRKLAND LAKE, Ont. – A Tyler Fyfe tally 2:26 into overtime was the difference as the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners came back to upend the French River Rapids 4-3 Friday evening in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.

Neither side would connect offensively in a scoreless opening 20 minutes, but French River picked up a pair goals in the second stanza to go in front.

It began with an early power play that carried over into the session that helped Jacob Romano strike 24 seconds into the period as he picked up his 11th of the season.

The Rapids then went up by a pair at 13:15 as Max Lightfoot extended the visitors cushion.

Countering in the third, the Gold Miners connected twice in a 30-second span to knot the affair at 2-2 on efforts from Marshal Nikitin and Joe Whittet.

Kirkland Lake then took their first lead on the night at 11:22 as Nikitin scored once more to reach the 20-goal plateau in 2017-18.

Regrouping, French River drew level thanks to a late man advantage marker from Stephen Calisti with under three minutes left in regulation to force extra time.

However midway through the first OT, Fyfe won it for the Gold Miners to give them the second point in the contest.

Ryan Winter made 29 saves to pick-up the victory for Kirkland Lake while saw 38 shots fired his way in the setback.