Photos: Justin Cairns
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The red-hot Blind River Beavers continued their winning ways Friday night by defeating the Soo Eagles 4-1 for their ninth straight Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League victory, in a contest held at Pullar Stadium.
Continuing their solid play, Blind River began the scoring deep into the first period after a Jack Robinson wrister from the right circle hit teammate Matthew Campanella in front and rolled in on Sault Ste. Marie starter Marino Ramirez at 16:54.
Moving to the middle frame, the Beavers went ahead by two on a play that saw Jesse Dupuis find Daniel Vasic speeding down the slot where he ripped a shot by the glove of Ramirez to give points in 10 consecutive contests.
Closing in on the midway mark of the third period, Sault Ste. Marie finally solved Blind River goaltender Noah Tegelaar as Jacob Swiatek stuffed in a Kenny Belanger Jr., feed from the end boards.
Adding some insurance with less than three minutes to go, Even Fraccaro chipped a play ahead to Wyatt Gibson, who spun and went in, made a nice move to his left prior to burying the puck into the open side.
Blind River then wrapped up the road result with an empty netter off the stick of Joseph Rotilio, who knocked down a Soo shot in his own end, then raced up the ice and finished off the night’s scoring.
In extending their winning streak, the Beavers moved to 23-8-0-0 overall.
With the defeat, the Eagles fell to 19-10-0-1.
