SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Soo Eagles used a huge shot barrage to score four times while Ryan Gilmore stopped all 19 attempts, he faced, to post his initial Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League shutout in a 4-0 win over the Elliot Lake Wildcats Saturday at Pullar Stadium.
The Eagles came at the Wildcats hard in the opening 20 minutes, but could not solve Elliot Lake starter Parker Simpson, who handled all 30 shots he faced in the session to keep it scoreless.
Sault Ste. Marie did eventually get on the board 13:22 into the middle frame thanks to Bobby Price’s third.
Carrying the one-goal cushion into the third, the Eagles’ Malik Ali added to the home side’s lead nearly six and a half minutes in.
The Soo then helped secure the victory midway through the stanza compliments of Dominic Skrelja’s eighth goal while also extending a point streak to six in succession as well as getting his name on the score sheet for the 11th time in his past dozen outings.
Skrelja then capped things off with a power play goal in the latter stages of the contest.
While Gilmore registered the victory, Simpson was credited with 79 saves in defeat for Elliot Lake.