Photos: Northern Exposures Photography
ELLIOT LAKE, Ont. – Cameron Smith did his part, stopping every shot he faced to post his first Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League shutout Friday as the Elliot Lake Red Wings went on to blank the French River Rapids 6-0 at Centennial Arena.
Notching the night’s opening tally with just over six minutes remaining in the first period, the home side converted when Charlie Wesholowski put a backhand out from behind the net into the slot where Braden Twigg snapped in a one-timer low on French River starter Kaleb Papineau.
Picking up the second assist on the play was Sam Noad, who extended a point streak to five in succession, with the helper.
Taking their lead into the second stanza, Elliot Lake extended their edge near the midway mark of the contest when Thomas Sefton jammed one in on a wrap around for his initial NOJHL tally.
It was more Red Wings at 13:11 as Wesholowski made a nice move along the side boards by chipping a play to himself, before dashing down the right wing and firing one past Papineau from the face off dot.
Not done there, the hosts added another just over a minute later when Silas Crawford notched his team-leading seventh of the season with he knocked in a loose puck that was laying at the top of the crease.
Putting the game away in the latter portion of the proceedings, Kaden Laverdiere made a nice individual rush up the ice before raising a back hand into the back of the net.
Elliot Lake’s Sefton then sealed the result as he used a French River defenceman as a screen and whipped one in from the top of the left circle.
The win for Elliot Lake was their third-straight as the improved to 6-5-0-0 overall while in defeat, the Rapids fell to 2-8-0-0.