HEARST, Ont. – Liam Oxner made 20 stops to record his first Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League shutout while a four-goal barrage in the second period helped send the Hearst Lumberjacks to an eventual 7-0 triumph over the Elliot Lake Wildcats Saturday at Claude Larose Arena.
Hearst got going early as George Young potted his first of the campaign just past the two-minute mark of contest as the home side took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
Taking on an Elliot Lake side that was playing its third road game, in as many nights, the Lumberjacks broke things open the second stanza to take control of the contest with their four-tally effort.
Dominic Dumas started the outburst early in the session before Alex Cannon and Sebastien Doucet connected 43 seconds apart to pick up their first NOJHL tallies to make it 4-0 before Mathew Eardley capped off the outburst at 12:08 of the session.
Finishing things off, Hearst collected markers from Max Griffioen on the power play and another from Cannon at even strength to round out the night’s scoring.
Jake Desando chipped in with three assists in the triumph while Griffioen and Mario Zitella had a couple of helpers apiece.
Elliot Lake goaltender Dominic Boily faced 50 attempts in defeat for the Wildcats.