SUDBURY, Ont. – Benjamin Hatanaka tallied twice and added an assist to help pace the Rayside-Balfour Canadians to a 5-2 victory over the Hearst Lumberjacks Tuesday afternoon in the third game of Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League Showcase in Sudbury.
It was the Canadians that collected the lone tally in the opening 20 minutes when Brady Maltais notched his fourth of the season at 12:55.
A Canadians power play helped them go up by two thanks to Hatanaka at 11:37 while teammate Eric Eschweiler picked up his first NOJHL goal at 16:54.
Hearst would get themselves on the board just prior to the second period expiring as Max Griffioen stuffed one in during a goal mouth scramble.
Down a man early in the third, it was Rayside-Balfour that connected while shorthanded as Hatanaka added his second goal of the day.
Zachary Hauseman’s first added some insurance for the Canadians midway through the stanza before Griffioen picked up another and seventh overall in the late stages to round out the scoring.
The Lumberjacks held the edge in shots by a 32-28 count with Sebastien Plamandon picking up the win for RBC while Tomi Gagnon was saddled with the loss.
With the result Rayside-Balfour raised their record to 6-5-1-1 on the season while Hearst slipped to 6-5-0-0.
Photos by Chris Dawson
