Timmins Rock goalie Dryden Riley prepares to stop a backhand attempt off the stick of Dylan Hendrick, of the Elliot Lake Vikings, as blue-liner Elijah Pool attempts to chase down the forward during the second period of Sunday afternoon’s NOJHL contest at the McIntyre Arena. While Riley was able to make the save, Hendrick crashed into him knocking him and the net into the boards behind the goalie. Riley’s play in the second and third periods helped the Rock defeat the Vikings 4-1. THOMAS PERRY/THE DAILY PRESS jpg, TD, apsmc
TIMMINS, Ont. – The Timmins Rock saw Ryan Armitage tally twice as past of an eventual 4-1 triumph over the Elliot Lake Vikings Sunday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League matinee at McIntyre Arena.
Currently pacing the NOJHL in goals scored during first period play, the Rock notched their league-best 22nd just over seven minutes into this one as Reece Liu found the back of the net for a second straight outing as he finished off a rebound as part of a give-and-go with Dawson Boily.
Timmins then tacked on their 23rd opening session marker at 11:41 to go up by a pair.
On the effort, Thomas Beard outraced a couple of opponents to a dump-in and fed Armitage in the slot, who whipped it upstairs on Vikings’ starter Brogan Colquhoun.
Action in the middle frame saw Elliot Lake strike shorthanded early to cut their deficit in half.
It came about as Ivan Kedrov exited the penalty box on the expiration of an initial infraction, which allowed him to race in on a breakaway where ripped a shot off the post, that kicked back and hit off Rock netminder Dryden Riley before trickling across the goal line.
Getting that back midway through the match-up, the Rock’s Travis Poan generated a cycle out of the corner, which led to him ripping home an attempt from the right circle that eluded Colquhoun.
Skating in their third consecutive contest in just over a 44-hour span, the road weary Vikings continued to battle as Timmins took their 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
In the third, Elliot Lake pushed hard to draw closer, but the Rock held firm, courtesy of some solid stops by Riley.
Eventually Armitage iced it with a late empty netter to complete the result.
The win moves Timmins to 10-4-0-0 in the standings while the Vikings dropped to 3-9-0-0.
Game Photos:
Thomas Perry – The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
