NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
NOJHL NETWORK MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016
French River & Espanola skate to double OT draw
NOELVILLE, Ont. – Gregory Trudeau-Paquet scored twice for the French River Rapids while Dominik Lavergne did likewise for the Espanola Express to help their respective sides skate to a 4-4 double overtime tie Saturday evening in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play at Noelville Arena.
An early power play allowed French River to open the scoring as Patrick Musico connected at 1:55 as he finished off the work of teammates Robert Ranger and Matthieu Verrault.
Down a man Espanola tied it at 14:29 of the first when MacKenzie Aiken struck shorthanded to knot the affair at 1-1.
The Express would take the lead before the frame was done as Lavergne notched his first of the evening at 17:51.
Heading into the second stanza, it was Jacob Uridhl who tied things up for the Rapids at 8:37 only to see Patrick Smith put Espanola back on top just 68 seconds later.
However Trudeau-Paquet went on to pick up both his goals just over three and a half minutes apart to give French River a 4-3 cushion after 40 minutes.
An Express power play allowed then to knot the affair for a final time with 7:03 remaining in regulation compliments of Lavergne as his fourth of the season would round out the night’s scoring as neither side would be able to convert in each of the two five-minute OT session.
Brayden Crowe had two assists for French River on the night.
Al Rogers turned in a solid performance helping the Rapids pick up their first point of the season as he made 52 saves along the way.
Shane Lippincott was also busy in the Express net facing 43 shots in the draw.
Photos courtesy of www.dalphotography.ca
