TIMMINS, Ont. – Ending an extended drought at McIntyre Arena, the Espanola Paper Kings skated to a 3-1 road win over the Timmins Rock Friday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest held there.
It was the Paper Kings who scored first in the match-up when Callum Millar snagged a turnover in the Rock zone then quickly fired a feed to the net that was steered in by Owen Smith on Timmins’ Frédéric Cousineau 7:51 in.
The score remained 1-0 Espanola into the second stanza where the session saw some chances for each side, but remained 1-0 for the visitors are 40 minutes.
Heading to the third period, the guests added to their edge at 4:53 when Graydon Guthrie swiped the puck off a Timmins defender and went to the net where he made a crafty move in close, then cut to his left and slid in his fourth of the campaign.
Pulling to within one moments into a power play with just over three minutes left and Cousineau out for an additional skater, Brant Romaniuk slid a pass over to Diego Da Silva who got just enough of an attempt to lift it over Espanola netminder Logan Vale.
Regrouping, the Paper Kings tightened up defensively and secured the road result in the final minute when Carter Drigo put one into an empty net on an unassisted effort to wrap-up the scoring.
According to numbers supplied by NOJHL Historian David Harrison, it marks the first Espanola win there since the team returned in the 2015-16 season, breaking a string of 11 straight defeats in Timmins.
The two teams will cap-off a weekend home-and-home Saturday in Espanola with a 7 p.m. start at the Regional Recreation Complex and on FLOHockey.tv
Game Photos:
Thomas Perry – The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
