Photos: VOODOOSHOCKEY.com
POWASSAN, Ont. – After giving up the game’s opening tally, the Powassan Voodoos answered back with five unanswered goals to defeat the Espanola Paper Kings 5-1 in a physical Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair Saturday at the Powassan Sportsplex.
The Paper Kings got on the board 8:25 into the contest when Nicolas Saucier roofed a loose puck high over Voodoos’ netminder Danial Dirracolo.
Answering with an equalizer midway through the first period, Chase Thompson tipped one from the slot through bodies jammed in front off a Parker McClelland point attempt, during a delayed penalty call.
Powassan came out quickly and took the lead, 71 seconds into the middle stanza thanks to Mathieu MacMillan whipping a shot from between the hash marks, by the glove of Espanola goaltender Jake Marois.
Going up by a pair, Rhys Smetham clicked on the power play at 17:50 after finding himself free in front and chipping in a MacMillan pass.
Extending their edge, the Voodoos then went up 4-1 prior to the second period break when Justin Rousseau was credited with his initial league marker off a point shot from Alexander Case that bounced in front, then hit off the back of an Espanola defenceman’s skate and fluttered into the net.
In the third, Powassan put the game away early as Owen Smetham picked up his first in the NOJHL at 2:21 after knocking in a Rousseau feed.
There would be no further scoring the rest of the way as the Voodoos improved to 5-1-0-1 on the season, having only allowed a league-low 17 goals-against through their initial six games.
With the loss, the Paper Kings dropped to 5-3-0-0 overall.
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
