CHELMSFORD, Ont. – Getting multi-point performances from 10 different players, the rolling Rayside-Balfour Canadians racked up their seventh straight victory for the month as they went on to defeat the Elliot Lake Wildcats 10-3 in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action Sunday night at Chelmsford Arena.
The home side began by grabbing a 2-0 lead before the match-up was eight minutes old on markers from Giordano Biondi and Brett Jacklin.
Elliot Lake got one back near the midway point of the first frame when Logan Gallagher collected his third of the season with help from Hayden Daca and Jordan Ritchie.
Countering, the Canadians’ Matthew Belanger restored the two-goal cushion before the frame was complete as he provided his 24th tally of the campaign, which currently leads all NOJHL rookies.
He then tacked on No. 25 just 19 seconds into the middle stanza to extend the RBC cushion.
Zachary Hauseman made it 5-1 a couple of shifts later as the hosts added to their lead.
The Wildcats saw Jakob Fahey pick up another for the visitors as his fifth, which came at 12:57, brought the guests to within three heading into the third.
There, the final session featured goals from the Canadians Dylan Bertrand and Brady Maltais in quick order.
After Jake Rhoades added one more for Elliot Lake, Rayside-Balfour saw Biondi, Gavin Brown and Zachary Snow all find the back of the net to finish off the one-sided result.
With the decision, the Canadians move back into a tie for first place in the league’s West Division standings with the Blind River Beavers, who won earlier in the day, as both clubs now boast 66 points and 31 victories apiece.
Rayside-Balfour starter Nicholas Heinzle made 26 stops to record his third straight triumph while helping his club continue their winning ways that has seen them go 7-0 in January and 9-0-0-1 overall in their past 10 outings.
Making his NOJHL debut, Wildcats’ netminder Noah Granata was peppered with 63 shots against in defeat.
