Photos: Northern Exposures
ELLIOT LAKE, Ont. – Joel Rainville stopped all 52 shots he faced to register his Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League-leading second shutout of the season while Seth Coulter dished out four assists as the Greater Sudbury Cubs blanked the Elliot Lake Red Wings 6-0 Friday evening at Centennial Arena.
It took the visiting Cubs just 16 seconds to commence the scoring in the contest as they came in on an odd-man rush and saw Kyler Campbell lift the stick of a Red Wings defender, which allowed Cameron Walker to rip one in from right circle.
A couple of shifts later, Billy Bierdermann bagged his first NOJHL goal as he deftly deflected a Christopher Innes attempt while parked between the hash marks.
Heading to the second stanza, the visitors tacked on two more, just moments apart, courtesy of Atley Gringorten.
His initial effort came as he skated down the left side and snapped a shot that Elliot Lake goaltender Nolan Chartrand could only get a piece of before it slid into the net.
Gringorten then put an end to Chartrand’s night, in favour of back-up Ryder Gregga, as he buried a nice cross-ice feed from Mathieu Morin to complete a two-on-one.
Adding to the onslaught, the Cubs’ Walker clicked on the power play late in the period to give the guest a 5-0 lead after 40 minutes.
In the third, Morin put the game out of reach at 8:47 to round out the scoring and complete a three-point night, as he had a pair of earlier assists.
While Rainville had the win, Chartrand faced 20 shots in defeat for the Red Wings while Gregga saved 16 of 17 in relief.