Rock split lengthy road trip

A heart breaker to end a four-game road trip for the Timmins Rock.

Ryan O’Bonsawin scored the game-winner with four seconds left in regulation to give the Rayside-Balfour Canadians a 3-2 win over the Rock Sunday night.

Jared Hester and Wayne Mathieu both scored in the loss, while Eric Jackson made 37 saves.

The other loss on the four-game trip was a 5-0 blanking in the Soo against the Thunderbirds Thursday.

On Friday, the Rock didn’t need a chance on the power play to defeat the Espanola Express 5-3.

Seth Reuben scored twice, while Riley Robitaille, Evan Kentish-Stack and AJ Campbell added singles. Tyler Masternak made 38 saves in the win.

And Saturday night, CJ Bradburn put up an unassisted game-winner 35 seconds into overtime as the Rock edged Elliot Lake 3-2. It was Bradburn’s second of the night. He scored in the first, along with Tyler Gilberds.

Eric Jackson stopped 27 of 29 shots for the victory.

So how did this busy Western Division road trip impact the NOJHL East Division?

Well, the Rock find themselves in fifth place in the East with 16 games left to play.

The Hearst Lumberjacks went 2-for-3 on a weekend road trip. They lost 5-3 in Powassan Friday, beat French River 8-3 Saturday and came out victorious over Kirkland Lake 6-1 Sunday.

That puts them a point ahead of the Rock, with four games in hand.

And sixth place French River climbed a bit closer after a 4-3 win over Cochrane Sunday evening.

The Rapids are seven points back of Timmins, though the Rock has played one less game.

NOJHL action continues tonight when the Powassan Voodoos host the Cochrane Crunch at 7:00pm.

For reference, here is what the NOJHL standings look like as of Monday morning: