SUDBURY – A trio of Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League tilts Friday evening saw a pair of shutouts by Kirkland Lake and Cochrane and a solid franchise-opening victory by Elliot Lake.
KIRKLAND LAKE GOLD MINERS 5 SUDBURY NICKEL BARONS 0 – It was the defending NOJHL champion Gold Miners who prevailed over the Nickel Barons in a battle of unbeatens at Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.
Devon Debastos stopped all 15 shots he faced to register the shutout in his NOJHL debut for Kirkland Lake as they improved to 3-0 on the campaign.
After Ryan Swain opened the scoring with the lone goal of the opening period, the Gold Miners tacked on four more tallies in the middle frame to put the game away.
Charles Bruneau-Crete, Luc Soares, Tyler Romain and Joel Fortin were the marksmen in the stanza.
Steven Babin and Jeremy Dumont chipped in with two assists apiece to aid in the victory.
Jessie Morin faced 35 attempts in a losing cause for the Nickel Barons who lost for the first time this season as they fell to 3-1 overall.
COCHRANE CRUNCH 5 POWASSAN VOODOOS 0 – Cochrane netminder Matt Young turned aside all 32 pucks fired his way to spoil the Voodoos home opener at the Powassan Sportsplex.
The eventual winning goal was recorded shorthanded by Cochrane’s Cody Gratton 6:20 into the contest.
The Crunch added two more in the second session off the sticks of Josh Racek and Jacob Erwin to go up by three after 40 minutes.
The visitors then put the game away in the third thanks to Joey Mavrin and Dustin Cordeiro, who rounded out the scoring.
Aviv Milner supplied a couple of assists for Cochrane.
Ben Auger made 37 saves in a losing cause for the Voodoos.
ELLIOT LAKE WILDCATS 7 MATTAWA BLACKHAWKS 3 – It was a perfect home start for the Wildcats who handled the Blackhawks in front of a large and boisterous crowd at Centennial Arena.
After Alex Hulford began the scoring for Mattawa 16 minutes into the game, Tanner Bowditch leveled the proceedings for Elliot Lake before the first period was complete.
The Wildcats then clawed their way to a 5-2 cushion after the middle stanza adding markers by Alex Mackenzie, Shane Woolsey, Samuel Gagnon and Liam Blais around another one by the Hawks’ Hulford.
Henry Yawit brought Mattawa to within two early in the final frame, but Elliot Lake iced it with later efforts supplied by Mackenzie and Cole Hepler to nail down the first triumph in franchise history.
Earning the win in the contest was A.J. Smith, who made 24 stops on the night.
Joe Sheppard was busy in the Mattawa net as he saw 48 shots in a losing cause.
NOJHL play continues Saturday as the Abitibi Eskimos host Sudbury in a 7:30 p.m. start at Jus Jordan Arena in Iroquois Falls.
