CHELMSFORD, Ont. – A pair of David Dedo third period tallies helped the Elliot Lake Wildcats pull out a 4-1 victory over the Rayside-Balfour Canadians Thursday evening in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s 2017-18 regular season opener at Chelmsford Arena.
A first period power play helped the Wildcats pick up the initial tally of the campaign 14 minutes into the contest on a William Bucsis effort.
Elliot Lake added on to their cushion 2:13 into the middle session as Clark Allair notched his first NOJHL marker to put the visitors up by a pair after two periods of play.
The visitors extended their lead 4:40 into the final frame with Dedo collecting his opening league tally.
A man advantage midway through the third allowed Rayside-Balfour to get on the board courtesy of Dawson Garcia with his first as a member of the Canadians.
Dedo added one more for the Wildcats at 15:21 to round out the night’s scoring.
Taylor Woolcott dished out two assists for Elliot Lake on the night, including one on the game-winner.
Allan Menary turned in a solid performance in net for the Wildcats making 40 saves overall to record the win.
MacKenzie Savard faced 33 shots in defeat for Rayside-Balfour.
The same two teams will finish off a home-and-home Friday evening in a 7:30 p.m. start at Centennial Arena.
