KIRKLAND LAKE – A Charles Bruneau-Crete shorthanded goal 3:45 into the third period proved to be the difference as the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners edged the Cochrane Crunch 4-3 Saturday evening in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.
Special teams allowed Kirkland Lake to take an early lead thanks to Tristan Hazlett’s eighth of the season at 6:45 during a two-man advantage.
The power play struck again for the Gold Miners as Dylan Rosen let loose with a point blast that was redirected by Jeremy Dumont before beating Cochrane starter Matt Young at 18:45.
Cochrane got back into it early in the second stanza as the NOJHL’s leading point producer Cody Gratton picked up his 23rd point and 13th goal at 2:17 to make it a 2-1 game.
Kirkland Lake countered to restore their two-tally lead just two minutes later thanks to Luc Soares, who finished the feed from Steven Babin.
Undeterred the Crunch potted a pair of quick markers off the sticks of Max Glashauser, on the power play, and Dustin Cordeiro as he tallied for a fifth straight game and 10th time in 11 outings this season.
That set the stage for Bruneau-Crete to notch the game-winner while his side was down a skater early in the final frame.
Josh Erickson made 26 saves to win for a second straight night over Cochrane helping Kirkland Lake improve to 9-3 on the season.
Young faced 24 shots in a losing cause for the Crunch as they fell to 8-4 in defeat.
