Photos: Northern Lights Photography
HEARST, Ont. – A Tucker Shields tally 32 seconds into overtime was the difference as the Powassan Voodoos pulled out a narrow 2-1 triumph over the Hearst Lumberjacks Saturday in hard-fought Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair at Claude Larose Recreation Centre.
The night’s opening tally was also provided by Powassan, nearly eight minutes into the match-up, as Rhys Smetham was there to knock in a loose puck by Matteo Gennaro in the Hearst net, after a left point shot was knocked down in front.
Still 1-0 Voodoos into the second stanza, the Lumberjacks drew level moments into a man advantage and saw Tyler Patterson bang in a loose puck sitting in the crease after Noah Janicki’s point shot rang off the post and left netminder Kannon Flageolle with little chance on the play.
Tied at one entering the third, neither side could convert offensively, which sent it to extra time to decide things.
There, Powassan controlled possession early and used that to get the game-winner as Shields wheeled around in the Hearst zone and got it over to Alex Little, who made a terrific no-look pass back between his legs, that allowed Shields to deposit the decider on Gennaro from close range.
The victory was a fourth in succession for the Voodoos as they improved to 12-6-0-0 on the year.
With a point in defeat, the Lumberjacks saw their record dip to 12-4-2-0 overall.