CHELMSFORD, Ont. – Rayside-Balfour Canadians affiliate forward Chase Stillman tallied twice in his Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League debut Thursday to help pace his new side to a 5-2 triumph over the Espanola Express at Chelmsford Arena.
Rayside-Balfour got going offensively near the six-minute mark of the first period as Jett Leishman and Brady Maltais combined to set-up Matthew Dokus-Dupuis for his eighth of the campaign.
The Canadians then added to their lead as Stillman tallied in his NOJHL debut to put the hosts up by a pair after one.
Down a skater early in the middle stanza, Espanola struck shorthanded at 2:49 as Lukas Lyszyk picked up his eighth of the year to see Rayside-Balfour’s streak of not allowing a goal end at 169 minutes and 15 seconds.
On the same power play though the Canadians restored their two-goal cushion as Giordino Biondi buried his ninth to make it a 3-1 game.
They then tacked on another before the frame was complete as Stillman added his second of the night during a late man advantage as he connected with just four seconds left in period.
Dokus-Dupuis then provided some insurance at 12:01 of the third before Mitchell Lee of the Express rounded out the night’s scoring during a late power play.
Ryan Mooney and Maltais dished out two assists apiece in the decision to aid the offensive cause.
Sebastien Plamondon in Rayside-Balfour net finished with 25 stops to record the win as the Canadians extended a winning streak to five in succession with the triumph.
Joel Rainville faced 37 shots in defeat for Espanola.
