KL ties up the Soo
Advantage, Kirkland Lake.
Kirkland Lake Gold Miners have seized home-ice advantage in their best-of-seven, Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League championship series with Soo Thunderbirds.
Taking a mere 23 shots on goal, the visiting Gold Miners nonetheless scored five times and upended the Thunderbirds 5-3 on Sunday to even the series at a game apiece.
The Soo had won the opener at home on Saturday, a 2-1 overtime decision.
Games 3 and 4 of the set will be played in Kirkland on Thursday and Friday of this week.
Jonathan Langford scored twice and the visiting Gold Miners chased Thunderbirds starting goalie Brian Kment with four goals on 17 shots over two periods.
Kment was making his 10th straight start of the playoffs — he had won his previous nine outings — in favour of no. 1 goalie Joel Horodziejczyk who went down with a lower-body injury following the opening game of the first round of the post-season.
In front of more than 650 fans at the Soo’s Essar Centre on Sunday, rookies Jaren Bellini and Medric Mercier and regular-season scoring champion Gavin Burbach scored for the Thunderbirds on Gold Miners goalie Jeremy Pominville, who made 30 saves, including 16 in the second period.
Besides Langford’s two goals, Austin Rust, Everett Thompson and slick defender Jeremy Picard-Fiset tallied for Kirkland, which got a pair of assists from Sam Wilbur.
Good story RR but we r not counting the Soo out by a long shot & they have played well up in KL this season.
Birds need better goal-tending than they got last night or they will not win this series.
Birds totaly dominate 2nd Period but Kirkland Lake gets 2 goals to 1 for the Birds.
BirdsFan . Easy please on my friend B K he was 9 and 1 before last night. R R you seem anxious to mention shots( mere 23) blaming the Goalie is very easy but maybe you should also mentioned if the team would of found a way to take advantage of the 5 p p they would of done better. If they don’t find a way to beat the K L specialty teams they will have a problem to win. Go Birds go B K.
LP,
Hold on, man, not blaming BK at all. Not “anxious” to mention shots, just stating facts. 5 goals on 23 shots is good for KL and not-so-good for the Soo. I give credit where it is due — to KL for winning in the Soo and to BK for having won his previous nine starts.
Regards,
RR
Way to go Kirkland Lake
We need to have a new winner going to the Dudley
Way to go Sam and Zack