ESPANOLA, Ont. – Shining offensively, skilled Timmins Rock forward Evan Katic supplied multiple goals and assists to pace his side to a convincing 7-1 triumph over the Espanola Paper Kings Friday evening in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair at the Regional Recreation Complex.
Timmins gained the early edge on Espanola by taking a 3-0 lead before the contest was 13 minutes old.
Katic put the Rock on the board at 8:20 when he beat Paper Kings’ netminder Liam Cheeseman by wiring in a rebound upstairs from a sharp angle.
The visitors then went up by a pair on the power play midway through the first period as Ashton Beriana took a dish from Katic and buried it from the top of the crease.
More from Katic a couple of shifts later, saw him bat one in from out of mid-air.
Still 3-0 for the guests into the second stanza, they kept coming and went up by five with half a game to play.
Edan Etheridge scored at 1:04 by pumping in a pass from the end boards by Katic, then clicked again eight minutes later by making a couple of crafty moves in close and tucking in another on the evening.
With that, Espanola made a goaltending change as Cameron Millar entered in relief.
Getting one back on a delayed penalty call, the Paper Kings’ Denver Mulligan muscled his way free in the slot before spinning and wiring a shot high past Timmins’ netminder Ayden Mullen, to pickup his first NOJHL goal.
A late Nolan Chabot effort saw him notch his initial league marker as the Rock went ahead by five as he was setup by Katic, then made a few crafty dekes before converting from the top of the crease.
Wrapping it up in the third, Maxx Hamelin clicked at 7:25 with a well-placed wrist shot from distance that sailed through a crowd and got past Millar to wrap-up the road result.
