McCann's hat trick leads Skyhawks over Beavers (Updated)

Solomon McCann celebrates after his second goal of the night on his way to a three goal performance against Blind River.

For North Bay Skyhawks forward Solomon McCann, his recent scoring outburst may be coming from an unlikely source.

"The last couple of games Nick LaPorte's been giving me a little kiss on the stick, and both games I've bagged three goals, so there might be something in that," McCann explained.

McCann picked up his second hat-trick in as many games on Friday night as he led the North Bay Skyhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Blind River Beavers at Memorial Gardens

"Dustin Fummerton made a lot of good passes tonight and put me in positions to score, and I was able to put them away," McCann said as to the key to his first-star performance.

"When you got somebody to play with like the linemates that I have out there, you're able to make some space and give each other a chance to make something happen."

The two goal margin of victory wasn't incitive of the action that took place on the ice, as North Bay out shot Blind River 43-29, and held a 5-2 lead before a late power play goal dropped the margin back to three goals.

"We only allowed one soft goal tonight as opposed to six on Wednesday night so there was some improvement," Skyhawks head coach Ian Swalucynski said following the win, in reference to the 9-7 barnburner the team had against the Sudbury Junior Wolves earlier in the week.

"The guys just have to focus, it's hard to come to the rink all of the time and have that same attitude time after time, but they need to keep that up. It's not a fluke that we've got 29 wins, we did it for a reason and we have to play like it every time we hit the ice."

Despite the losing effort, Beavers head coach Todd Stencill was impressed with his team's performance and felt that it would bode well for the rest of their weekend.

"We felt that going into this set of games that this would be a great chance to make a push towards the next level," Stencill explained as his team now hosts the Soo Thunderbirds on Saturday followed by the Soo Eagles on Sunday.

"We started off a bit slow for the first half tonight, but I felt we adjusted well throughout the rest of the game, and I think that should bode well for us till the end of the season as we make our run towards the playoffs."

North Bay would open the scoring at the seven mark of the first period, as McCann put a Joel Senecal rebound past Beavers goalie Billy Stone for his first of the night.

Ryan Loach would extend the lead with a tremendous one-man effort off of the faceoff, giving North Bay a two goal lead after twenty minutes.

The Beavers would cut into that lead just seven seconds into the second period, as Tyler Liukkonen scored on a four-on-three power play to make it a 2-1 game.

The Skyhawks would respond a few minutes later, as McCann fired one past Stone on the power play to put the gap back at two goals. McCann would score his third at the thirteen minute mark of the second, putting the score at 4-1.

Senecal would add to the North Bay lead just over a minute later, making it a 5-1 game. However, Liukkonen would strike yet again for the Beavers, putting the rebound past North Bay's Jeff Michael and dropping the Skyhawks lead down to three goals going into the third. Drew McMillan would score on the power play for the Beavers with three minutes remaining, but by that point it was too late for Blind River to mount a comeback.

The Skyhawks look to continue to build upon their winning ways on Sunday night at Memorial Gardens, when they face Sudbury once again. However, despite holding the best record in the NOJHL, Swalucynski believes that his team has something to prove every time they step to the ice.

"We're coming in with a mentality that everyone thinks we're overrated," Swalucynski explained.

"Everyone says that our goalies and defence are suspect, or that we're just a one-trick pony with Fummerton and the coach isn't that good. We just got to keep working hard, do what we do and hopefully we'll earn everybody's respect."