Photos: Cassy Seguin
FRENCH RIVER – Jakob Kovacs had three goals while Noah Tegelaar stopped everything put his way to register his first Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League shutout Saturday as part of an 8-0 triumph by the Blind River Beavers over the French River Rapids at Noelville Arena.
Converting on the night’s initial man advantage opportunity, the Beavers’ Tyler Vorstadt collected his first NOJHL tally by chipping in a rebound, off a Bryce Burnett attempt, at 1:45.
Blind River then made it 2-0 near the midway mark of the frame after scooping up a lengthy Blind River pass, then quickly converting the other way which allowed Josh Thompson to set-up Michael Gallagher for a tap-in on French River’s Brady Dyer.
The guests then came right back and notched another one at 9:45 with Joseph Rotillio being credited with the tally after a Rapids’ defender inadvertently lifted the puck into his own net.
Adding a fourth in the frame, Wyatt Gibson deftly deflected an Andrey Manov left point shot at 13:32, for his opening league marker.
Special teams helped the Beavers tack on another early in the second, with Kovacs striking shorthanded by knocking down a pass an pumping a one-timer by Dyer.
A sixth on the night for Blind River came at 6:53 as Evan Fraccaro clicked by completing the work of teammate Burnett, who collected a puck out of mid-air, a fed it in front where it was swatted in.
Kovacs them jammed in his second during a pile-up in front of the, then rounded out the scoring with a man-down empty netter to cap off the road triumph.
The Rapids are right back at it Sunday as they host the Espanola Paper Kings at 4 p.m., while the Beavers return to the ice Friday as they welcome the Powassan Voodoos in a 7 p.m. start.
