Photos: Northern Lights Photography
HEARST, Ont. – An impressive Lucas Peaver tally 1:34 into overtime was the difference as the Iroquois Falls Storm defeated the Hearst Lumberjacks 3-2 Sunday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League East Division affair at Claude Larose Recreation Centre.
Hearst held the edge in shots after one period of play, but could not solve Iroquois Falls netminder Connor Hatfield, while the Lumberjacks’ Russ Decoste was also spotless in a scoreless opening 20 minutes.
Hearst eventually broke the stalemate past the midway point of the proceedings.
There, some pressure in the Storm end helped the hosts finally solve Hatfield as Tyler Patterson and Liam Boswell worked to get the puck to an open Mathieu Comeau, who promptly buried his chance from the top of the crease.
Staying 1-0 Lumberjacks into the third, Iroquois Falls drew level halfway through the session off some nice cycle work which allowed Charlie Crump to shovel a backhand in front, from behind the net, where a waiting Michael Leech chipped in the equalizer.
The Storm then took the lead at 13:10 as they snagged a turnover and saw Peever put a pass across to Tyler Corbett, who whipped a close-range shot that squeezed under the pads of Decoste.
Battling back late, the Lumberjacks forced overtime with their goalkeeper out for an extra attacker and saw Cooper Moore stuff in the tying goal off a goal-mouth scramble at 17:43.
In OT, Peever provided the game-winner on a one-on-three rush where he made a nice move to get around a Hearst defender and then went to the net and neatly tucked the puck between the legs of Decoste to end it and secure the road victory.
The triumph helped Iroquois Falls move to 6-15-0-1 on the year, with all their wins to date coming in either overtime, or via a shootout.
Getting a point in defeat saw the Lumberjacks’ record move to 8-8-3-1.
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
