SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s leading point-getter, in Nick Techel of the Soo Eagles, added three more to his totals Wednesday, including a pair of goals that featured the game-winner, while netminder Carter McPhail turned in a stellar 38-save shutout to lead their side to 5-0 victory over the Rayside-Balfour Canadians at Pullar Stadium.
Techel started things off offensively for Sault Ste. Marie nine minutes into the contest as he extended a point streak to 11 consecutive outings.
The Eagles added another at 14:11 thanks to Jacob Palmerio who supplied his 22nd tally of the campaign to put the home side up by a pair.
Brendan Blair add to the Soo cushion with the lone marker of the middle session as they carried a 3-0 lead into the third.
Action in the final frame saw Techel add his second of the night and 28th overall to raise his league-leading point total to 77 midway through the period.
Jake Lamberty then capped off the win with a man advantage marker at 15:14 to round out the night’s scoring.
Blair also chipped in with two assists to join Techel with three-point nights.
McPhail’s 38 stops earned him his third shutout of the season, to tie him for the league lead in that department.
Brayden Lachance started for Rayside-Balfour and suffered the loss as he gave up four against on 25 shots while Jean-Marc Brisson handled four of five in close to 10 minutes of relief.
With the result the Eagles improved to 30-19-0-1 while the NOJHL West Division front-running Canadians fell to 33-14-3-1.
