IROQUOIS FALLS – Tyler Romain tallied twice while Zach Pease had a goal and two assists to help lead the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners to a 6-2 victory over the Abitibi Eskimos Wednesday night in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League preseason action at Jus Jordan Arena.
Abitibi grabbed the early lead in this one as Jamey Lauzon found the mark 2:46 into the contest.
Ryan Swain pulled the visitors level midway through the opening session to level the proceedings through 20 minutes of play.
Kirkland Lake took control of the game in the second stanza as they outscored the Eskimos 4-1 to go up 5-2 after two periods.
Chris Pearson struck on the power play four minutes in to make it 3-1 while Romain potted his first of the evening at 6:30.
A Kevin Walker man advantage effort pulled Abitibi to within a pair at 13:16, but the Miners answered back on goals by Tristen Hazlett and Romain in the late going to go well in front.
Pease then iced it with a shorthanded strike in the third to conclude the night’s scoring.
Kenny Fitzgerald started for Kirkland Lake and played half the game making 14 stops on 15 attempts and picked up the win.
Devon Debastos turned aside 15 of 16 in relief.
Abitibi’s Braddock Baalerud played most of the night in net and suffered the loss while kicking out 30 pucks.
Alex Chandler had two saves in a brief appearance in the second period.
The same two sides will finish off a home-and-home set Thursday evening in a 7:30 p.m. start at Kirkland Lake’s Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.
