TIMMINS, Ont. – Powassan Voodoos goaltender Joe Vrbetic capped off a three-game road trip by stopping 41 of the 42 shots he faced to help backstop his side to a 3-1 triumph over the Timmins Rock in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League matinee Sunday in front of 868 fans at McIntyre Arena.
The outcome sees Powassan move to within one point of Timmins in the race for third place in the NOJHL East with the Voodoos having one game remaining in the regular season while the Rock wrapped up their campaign as they await to see who they’ll meet in the playoffs.
It was the visitors who struck first in this one as they opened the scoring four minutes in on Tomas Yachmenev’s 23rd tally of the campaign with his 53rd point overall, which established a personal single-season best.
Powassan added another 6:27 into the second stanza as Brett Shawana finished off the work of David Campbell and Jacob Peterson-Galema as they carried a 2-0 cushion into the third period.
In the final frame, Gabinien Kioki added to the Voodoos lead with his 23rd at 3:47.
Timmins would dash Vrbetic’s shutout bid with 7:35 remaining in regulation on Derek Seguin’s team-leading 34th as he ran a modest point streak to four outings in succession.
However, that was the only blemish on Vrbetic’s card on this day as the rookie netminder earned his 15th victory of the season while improving to 9-1-2 in his past dozen appearances.
Rock starter Tyler Masternak faced 15 attempts in defeat.
Game Photos courtesy of Thomas Perry, The Daily Press (Timmins)
