FRENCH RIVER – Cooper Bowman had a goal and two assists while Dominik Godin tallied twice to propel the French River Rapids to a 5-2 triumph over the Hearst Lumberjacks in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play Saturday at Noelville Arena.
Down a skater 12 minutes into the meeting, French River’s Bowman swiped the puck off a Hearst player in his own zone then darted down the ice on a breakaway where he fired a low shot into the left corner to give the hosts the lead.
Extending their lead near the half-way point of the contest, Godin clicked on the power play by one-timing a Spencer Borg cross-ice feed for his 13th of the season.
Down two-men, the Rapids clicked shorthanded again off an odd-man rush that saw Bowman set-up Brandon Hass for his first of the campaign.
Still on the power play, Hearst came back moments later with Mathieu Comeau connecting from a sharp angle.
Taking their two-goal cushion into the third, French River went back up by three thanks to Levi Siau, who went top shelf from the high slot.
Getting that back a minute and half later, the Lumberjacks pressured the play and were rewarded with Dylan Ford whipping in a Tyren Grimsdale feed from in close on the Rapids’ Cole Sheffield.
Pulling goaltender Liam Oxner for an extra attacker with over four minutes remaining in the third, Hearst looked to get closer, however Godin iced it while being hauled down as he put one into the empty net at 19:21 to wrap up the victory.
Sheffield was solid between the pipes for French River, making 46 stops, including 25 alone in the third period, to record the win and snap a four-game winning streak for Hearst.
As for Oxner, he too was busy, seeing 47 shots against in defeat.