Photos: Turnbull’s Northern Photography
IROQUOIS FALLS, Ont. – A Damien Bourdon-Lemoyne goal with 7:22 remaining in regulation proved to be the game-winner as the Hearst Lumberjacks held off the Iroquois Falls Storm 4-3 Thursday in a back-and-forth Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair at Jus Jordan Arena.
It took the hometown Storm under a minute in to open the night’s scoring as Justin McKnight dashed down the right wing, and while driving into the circle, ripped a shot over the blocker of Lumberjacks’ starter Tristan Boileau, for his second of the season.
Answering with an equalizer early into the middle stanza, Hearst drew level 65 seconds in when Mathieu Comeau chipped in a rising backhand from the right of the crease past a diving Connor Dunham-Fox in the Iroquois Falls net.
The visitors then went in front nearly nine minutes into the frame when Noah Janicki used a nice give-and-go with Comeau before snapping one by Dunham-Fox from the right side.
Countering with a man advantage effort at 10:32, Owen Cassidy tied it after whipping a shot past the glove of Boileau from the top of left circle.
Up a skater themselves a few shifts later, the Lumberjacks went back on top after Tyler Patterson banked one in off a Storm defenceman from a cross-ice attempt that was intended for Adam Shillinglaw.
Evening the score once more, Iroquois Falls clicked nearly five minutes into the third, as Charlie Crump took a play into the Hearst zone, made a move to the inside, then calmly took the play wide and patiently waited for Boileau to commit before firing in a quick shot from the left of the net.
Retaking the lead one final time, Hearst controlled a face off deep in Storm territory before moving the puck around nicely and eventually saw Bourdon-Lemoyne send a low shot from between the hash marks that found its way in to round out the scoring.
With the win, the Lumberjacks improved to 4-2-0-1 overall while Iroquois Falls dropped their fourth straight and slipped to 3-4-0-0.
The two clubs will cap-off a home-and-home Friday in a 7 p.m. start at Claude Larose Recreation Centre in Hearst.
