NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013
Thunderbirds and Rivermen roll to victories
SUDBURY – A two-game slate on the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League docket Saturday evening saw the Espanola Rivermen blank the Blind River Beavers 5-0 while the Soo Thunderbirds defeated the Abitibi Eskimos 5-2.
ESPANOLA RIVERMEN 5 BLIND RIVER BEAVERS 0 – Brennen Dubchak registered a hat-trick and set-up another while Alex Chandler turned aside all 24 attempts he faced in his NOJHL debut to lead the Rivermen to the shutout of Blind River.
Espanola exploded out of the gate in this one tallying four times in the first period and shut the door the rest of the way to win their third straight, all on the road.
Dubchak completed his three-goal performance in the opening stanza and fed Robert Smythe for the other Rivermen effort in the offensive outburst.
Dylan Knox then came in to replace Beavers’ starter Matt Yound to start the second and was solid in relief allowing only one to get past him as Ryan Attwood found the mark midway through the third.
Smythe and Nathan Campbell both chipped in with a pair of assists to aid the offensive cause for Espanola.
With Chandler picking up the victory, Young suffered the loss facing seven shots in 20 minutes of work and Knox stopping 21 of 22 in his time between the pipes.
SOO THUNDERBIRDS 5 ABITIBI ESKIMOS 2 – Matt Zaleswki tallied twice and Anthony Miller dished out three assists to pace the T-Birds to the road triumph at Jus Jordan Arena.
Following a scoreless opening period, Sault Ste. Marie struck for a trio of markers in the middle session to take control on efforts by Tyler Jones, Zalewski and Gavin Burbach.
Kenny Jacob then put an end to Joel Horodziejczyk’s shutout bid midway through the final frame to put Abitibi on the board.
A minute later Zalewski put the Thunderbirds up three again only to see Brady Clouthier connect on the power play for the Eskimos with 7:21 to go.
Eric Hillock however added some insurance in the late stages to round out the scoring for the Soo.
Horodziejczyk finished with 32 stops to record the win in net with Sylvain Miron seeing 36 shots in a losing cause for Abitibi.
NOJHL action resumes Sunday in a pair of venues as the North Bay Trappers host the Thunderbirds at 3:30 p.m. and unbeaten Kirkland Lake heads to Iroquois Falls to tangle with the Eskimos at 7:30 p.m.
