TIMMINS, Ont. – Jordan Rendle’s highlight reel goal, 1:46 into overtime, was the difference as the Timmins Rock slipped past the Elliot Lake Wildcats 4-3 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League matinee Sunday afternoon at McIntyre Arena.
Timmins got on the board first 69 seconds after the opening face-off as Landen Matechuk beat Elliot Lake starter Aaron Mackay.
The hottest player in the NOJHL, in the Wildcats Cole Hepler, leveled the proceedings 11 minutes later with his 33rd overall while also extending a league-season high consecutive game point streak to 21 in a row.
Each team would add one each in the middle stanza as well with Ty Hannaford putting the visitors in front at 11:19 while Rock defenceman Andrew Castagna tied it with a power play blast just over three minutes later.
Matechuk’s second of the day midway through the third gave Timmins the lead, but Elliot Lake battled back to force extra time on a Alec MacKenzie effort with 5:56 left in regulation.
Going four skaters aside in OT, Rendle won it for the home side as he corralled a loose puck behind his own net and proceeded to carry the puck the length of the ice before eventually darting through a pair of Wildcats defenders and snapping home the winner over the glove of Mackay to notch his 30th marker of the season in dramatic fashion to end it.
Zachery Kercz had a pair of assists for Timmins.
Logan Ferrington made 32 saves to record the win for the Rock while Mackay saw 30 shots fired his way in defeat helping Elliot Lake earn a point and finish off a three-game road trip 2-0-1-0.
