FRENCH RIVER – A pair of Daks Klinkhammer markers, including the game-winner, help pace the Greater Sudbury Cubs past the French River Rapids 7-1 in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League game Saturday evening at Noelville Arena.
Needing less than three and a half minutes to get on the board, Greater Sudbury defenceman Alex Valade led a rush up ice down the left wing where he drove into the French River zone and ripped a shot high over the glove of netminder Matis Bureau-Morel for his third marker of the campaign.
Remaining 1-0 for the visitors into the second session, they added to their lead with another early effort thanks to Klinkhammer, who scooped up a loose puck just inside the Rapids’ blueline and went in a tucked a low backhand through the legs of Bureau-Morel at 2:48.
More from Klinkhammer made it 3-0 as he wheeled and moved to his left and lifted in his 12th of the year.
The Cubs kept coming and added two more before the second intermission, beginning with Owen King who got in behind the French River defence and went in alone where he made no mistake with a quick wrist shot.
Jacob Signoretti then added to the lead as he had a couple of in-close cracks before eventually converting.
In the third, the Rapids’ Jeremy Clark finally solved Greater Sudbury goaltender Matthew Vahramian at 10:16 by collecting a draw won back to him by Aaron Maxwell and whipping it in from distance on a man advantage.
Up a skater themselves right after that, Caden Dubreuil countered by tipping in a Nate Lazarus point blast.
Nolan Newton then whistled one into the top left hand corner in the late going for the Cubs to complete the scoring.
