KIRKLAND LAKE, Ont. – Dawson Rodin was there when called upon on every occasion Sunday night as he handled all 32 shots he faced to post a shutout as the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners defeated the Cochrane Crunch 2-0 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest at Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.
Neither team would connect in the scoreless first period where the Crunch held a 10-7 edge in shots.
Kirkland Lake opened the scoring six minutes into the middle stanza thanks to Vinny DeSanctis as his fifth of the campaign would prove to be the eventual game-winner.
Gregory Trudeau-Paquet added some insurance for the Gold Miners 5:57 into the third as he collected his team-leading 12th to put the home side up by a pair on an assist supplied by DeSanctis.
Rodin did the rest as he went on to pick-up his second shutout of the season in securing the victory with the aid of his teammates.
Shayne Battler faced 22 attempts in a losing cause for Cochrane.
With the result, Kirkland Lake moves past both the Powassan Voodoos and Timmins Rock back into first place in both the NOJHL East Division standings as well as into top spot overall in the league as they become the first league side to reach 30 points as they improved to 15-4-0-0 on the season.
Cochrane meanwhile slips to 11-10-0-1 with the setback.
