Photos: Northern Exposures Photography
ELLIOT LAKE, Ont. – Dylan Leslie’s second goal of the game, coming a minute and 24 seconds into overtime, helped the Elliot Lake Vikings rally past the Timmins Rock 6-5 Saturday in front of nearly 500 boisterous Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League spectators at Centennial Arena.
The hometown Vikings would strike first in the contest as Gavin McLenaghan broke out in transition from his own zone, then powered his way up ice into Timmins territory where drove into the left face-off circle and sent a rising shot over the glove of Rock starter Dryden Riley at 12:46.
Heading to the second stanza, the visitors drew level four and a half minutes in when Jaden Lyons got to the puck first, off a Brant Romaniuk shot off the end boards, and snapped it over the shoulder of Elliot Lake netminder Matthew Vahramian from a sharp angle on the right side.
Answering quickly, the Vikings regained the lead at 5:24 thanks to some solid work from McLenaghan and Gabriel Manseau, which allowed Leslie to steer in first league marker.
Adding another equalizer, the Rock drew level once more after Thomas Beard whipped in a feed from defenceman Elijah Pool from the slot.
Taking the lead themselves, Timmins clicked on the power play and used some crafty passing that was promptly finished off by Josh Russell from between the hash marks.
Building on that, the reigning NOJHL champions kept coming and saw Harry Clark drive to the net off a line change and buried a Ryan Armitage feed from behind the goal line at 14:05.
Adding a fifth goal in the period, the Rock converted once more on a man advantage and saw Russell neatly tip in a Felix Cadieux-Fredette shot from the point.
Getting one back late in the session, the Vikings’ Tyler Thompson lofted one from inside the blueline that found its way through a maze and past a screened Timmins netminder.
In the third, Elliot Lake made it a one-goal game after forcing a turnover which allowed McLenaghan to convert from close range with a quick shot.
The Vikings then sent it to extra time with 1:22 remaining in regulation when Anthoy Bertrand wheeled down the right wing and put a pass over to Manseau who fired in the equalizer.
Heading to OT, Elliot Lake completed the comeback as Ryan Daponte put a play up to Leslie in the neutral zone, who in turn skated in and made a nice inside move on a Rock defender then got off a shot that Riley could not completely handle before it trickled into the net to end it.
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
