Strong 3rd sends Powassan past Hearst

HEARST, Ont. – The Powassan Voodoos broke open a third period tie with three unanswered goals to pull out a 6-3 victory over the Hearst Lumberjacks Friday evening in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play in front of 762 fans at Claude Larose Arena.

Hearst did begin the night’s scoring, 11:19 into the contest, as Dawson Waddell gave the home side the lead.

Powassan countered with the equalizer before the first period was complete thanks to Tyson Gilmour, who collected his 20th goal of the season at 18:36.

The Voodoos would gain the upper hand in the middle frame as they scored twice when Harrison Israels picked up his team-leading 32nd marker midway through the session while Kobe Desmond struck shorthanded at 14:54.

The Lumberjacks did get one back, via the power play, 26 seconds later on Max Griffioen’s 17th tally to pull his club back to within one.

Wade Auger then drew Hearst level at 18:35 to knot the affair at 3-3 heading into the final frame.

However league-leading Powassan connected quickly in the third period, with a trio of tallies three and a half minutes apart, before the stanza was half complete to secure the road victory.

Shane Beaulieu started the offensive outburst during a man advantage at 4:05 while Aaron Dickson and Brandon MacKinnon added later goals to put the Voodoos up by three and round out the scoring.

Nicolas Case dished out two assists to aid the Powassan cause while Maxim Lacroix had a couple of helpers for the Lumberjacks.

Hearst held the edge in shots on goal by a 41-37 count with Christian Cicigoi picking up the win while Matt Kustra suffered the loss.