RAINVILLE LEADS JR. HOUNDS

Jeff Rainville continued his assault on NOJHL goaltenders Wednesday night at Memorial Gardens with a three goal, two assist performance as the Soo Junior Greyhounds beat the Blind River Beavers 13-2.

Rainville and linemate Joey Coccimiglio led the attack for the Jr. Hounds with a combined eight points. Coccimiglio chipped in with two goals and an assist.

The win also catapulted the Jr. Hounds into top spot in the NOJHL standings as the North Bay Skyhawks entered Wednesday's action with a one-point lead over the locals but lost 3-2 in Sudbury to the Northern Wolves.

The Beavers opened the scoring in the game as Dustin McLeod scored 1:10 into the game but the Jr. Hounds scored six goals in the first period to take control.

Aside from Rainville's three goals and Coccimiglio's two, the Jr. Hounds also received two goals from Jacob King and singles from Matt West, Josh Leddy, Luke Stellmach, Matt Hall, Barnaus Birkeland and Sammy Collizza.

Blind River starter Frank Carlucci stopped 14 of 23 shots before being pulled in favour of Brock Lees, who stopped 17 of 21 shots the rest of the way.

Shane Bellini got the start for the Jr. Hounds and stopped 9 of 11 shots before coming out midway through the third period to make room for Travis O'Brien, who stopped the only two shots he faced the rest of the way. O'Brien was taking the place of injured Jr. Hounds goaltender Rob Cundari, who is nursing a hamstring injury.

Next action for the Jr. Hounds is Friday night when the Abitibi Eskimos are in town to face the Jr. Hounds at Memorial Gardens. Faceoff time is 7:30 p.m.