TIMMINS, Ont. – A seven-goal second period barrage broke open a close contest Sunday as the Timmins Rock went to tame the French River Rapids 13-1 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair at McIntyre Arena.
The Rock needed less than two minutes to strike first on the afternoon as an open Nolan Masson in front took a Thomas Beard feed from behind the net and whipped it past Rapids starter Ethan Madden.
With the assist, Beard has now earned at least one point in 15 of his last 16 contests.
Despite a barrage of further shots in the session by Timmins, Madden kept it a one-goal game after 20 minutes.
Quick to convert in the middle stanza though, the home side made it 2-0 early as Lucas Lowe poked in a backhand on a loose puck laying along the goal line.
The tally was Lowe’s 50th in the NOJHL on a moment that he also extended a consecutive game point streak to eight.
A third on the day saw Kaeden McArthur neatly redirect in a pass put his way by Lowe to help the Rock extend their lead.
Going to work on the power play, Maxx Hamelin scored for the fourth time in three games for Timmins as he ripped one in from the right circle.
Even with a goaltending change that saw Mattis Bureau-Morel enter in relief, Timmins came back after that and saw Maxfeld Shin tally twice in a matter of moments to open the floodgates for the Rock as he buried a pair of in close opportunities.
Adding to the outburst, Ryan Power lifted in a backhand to put the host ahead by seven with half a game remaining.
Matteo Paradiso capped off the goal-filled period late in the late going with a snapshot near the right dot.
Adding to the onslaught in the third, Hamelin; Ashton Beriana and Ryan Armitage put Timmins up by 11.
French River eventually spoiled the bid of Rock netminder Virgil Sausset-Plateaux for his first NOJHL shutout as Ryder Tracy’s harmless-looking backhand hit off the stick of the goalkeeper and rolled up over his shoulder and dropped into the net for his initial league tally.
Matthew Kim and Hamelin then completed the romp with late efforts to wrap-up the one-sided result.
Game Photos:
Thomas Perry – The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
