Photos: Helene Rancourt
BLIND RIVER, Ont. – The Blind River Beavers rode the goaltending of Charlie Burns, who registered his Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League-leading fifth shutout of the season, as he went on to blank the Soo Eagles 3-0 Saturday at the Blind River Community Centre.
The Beavers held a good edge in shots in a scoreless opening frame, but they could not solve the Eagles’ Logan Raffaele, while Blind River’s Burns was equally as sharp between the pipes.
Second period play saw Blind River find the mark midway through as Gavin Rocha led a rush down the right win into the Sault Ste. Marie zone where he dropped a pass back to Michael Gallagher who sent a rising shot into the top left-hand corner.
It was more from the home side six minutes later, via the man advantage, when Caleb Minns drove to the slot and fired a shot on net that Raffaele could not control, which allowed Rocha to knock in the loose puck with a backhand from in close.
Taking their two-goal cushion into the third, the hosts held firm defensively throughout before eventually icing it with an empty netter from Minns in the final seconds.
The result sees the Beavers boost their record to 24-9-2-2 while the Eagles fell to 17-15-3-1 on the campaign.