SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Riding the strength of an Evan Hoglund hat trick, the Soo Eagles downed the Timmins Rock 5-3 Friday night in the fifth contest of their Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League quarter-final series at Pullar Stadium.
This sees the Eagles, who are now down 3-2 in the best-of-seven, force a Game 6 Sunday at McIntyre Arena in Timmins, which is slated for 8 p.m.
Capitalizing on the night’s initial power play, Hoglund benefitted from an ill-advised clearing attempt from Rock netminder Dryden Riley that was put right on his stick, then promptly saw him score for his first NOJHL playoff marker.
Answering that, the Rock drew level at 10:21 when Jack Kelly collected a back pass from Reece Liu in the slot and snapped it past the Eagles’ Jace Knoerle.
The marker gives Kelly a point in each of the five match-ups in the series.
Coming right back, the Soo retook the lead thanks to Ilian Danilov as he darted down the right wing with speed, then made a slight move to the middle before wiring a shot past a screened Riley.
Going up by a pair early in the middle stanza, Hoglund notched his second of the night as he chopped in a loose puck laying in the crease off a Gabriel Clark attempt from the right side.
Pulling back to within one at 5:31, Timmins’ Brant Romaniuk put a chance towards the target that hit off the blocker of Knoerle, then sailed over him and into the net.
On a man advantage to commence the third period, the Rock drew level in the first minute when Kelly neatly redirected in a Lucas Lowe play along the ice from the left circle.
With overtime looming in the late going, the Eagles swooped in after a Timmins defender fanned on a pass out of his own territory, which allowed Nolan Nemecek to crank in the eventual game-winner, with help from Zach Sweitzer, with 2:30 to go.
Getting their goaltender on the bench for an extra attacker with a couple of minutes left, the visitors looked to tie it and force overtime, however Hoglund iced it after snagging a bouncing puck at the Rock blueline then secured the result with an empty netter to help extend the series.
NOJHL quarter-final
No. 4 Timmins Rock vs. No. 5 Soo Eagles
Rock lead best-of-seven series 3-2
Game 1: Rock 4 Eagles 1
Game 2: Rock 4 Eagles 0
Game 3: Eagles 5 Rock 3
Game 4: Rock 3 Eagles 2
Game 5: Eagles 5 Rock 3
Game 6: Sunday, March 30 @ Timmins 8 p.m. (McIntyre Arena)
Game 7*: Monday, March 31 @ Timmins 7:30 p.m. (McIntyre Arena)
*-if necessary
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