COCHRANE, Ont. – A Silas Crawford power play goal with under six minutes remaining in regulation, proved to be the game-winner as the Elliot Lake Red Wings went on to defeat the Cochrane Crunch 3-1 Saturday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest at Tim Horton Events Centre.
Elliot Lake picked up the evening’s initial tally, in the latter stages of the first period, as Josh Tomasi put in a back hand off a goal-mouth scramble.
In the second session, the Red Wings once again held a territorial edge in shots, but could not solve Cochrane netminder Michael Nickolau as the contest remained 1-0 for the visitors through 40 minutes of play.
Heading to the final stanza, the Crunch drew level early on off an odd-man rush that was finished off by Martin Papineau, who buried one from the slot and he fired one past Elliot Lake’s Cameron Smith at 2:19.
The man advantage helped the Red Wings regain the lead in the late going when Silas Crawford neatly redirected a Cameron Dial attempt from the left point.
Calum McGill then added some insurance for Elliot Lake, while up a skater, as the defenceman made a nice move into the slot and neatly picked the right hand corner
While Smith won for a second-straight night, Nickolau of the Crunch was solid in defeat, facing plenty of rubber in a losing cause.