The Powassan Voodoos bounced back following their Game 2 loss to Kirkland Lake with a convincing 6-2 victory in Game 3 at the Sportsplex on Tuesday Night to take a 2-1 series lead in the East Division Semi-Finals.
Powassan wasted little time getting on the board in this one as Battalion prospect Brendan D’Agostino notched his 2nd of the playoffs just over a minute in with a wicked wrist shot to open the scoring. The Battalion young guns weren’t done there as Forward David Sherman would score just minutes later off a two-on-one rush.
Voodoos leading scorer Steve Harland, who was awarded multiple league trophies prior to the game for his regular season success, added to the lead with his 3rd tally of the post-season on the power-play.
“Our first periods have been a little sloppy this year,” said Harland on the high-scoring first period.
“Everyone on our team came out to play hard and it really showed on the scoreboard. We jumped out to a quick start and it really helped us win the game.”
Powassan would get another one with less than 10 seconds remaining in the first after a great play along the board by Voodoos Captain Aaron Sullivan to set up line-mate Jacob Erwin to make it 4-0.
This game got a lot grittier in the second with the Voodoos taking the first 4 infractions of the period. Kirkland Lake tried to dig themselves out of a deep hole as Gold Miners Captain Ethan Strong would get his team on the board with a quick wrist shot from the point on the man-advantage for his 2nd goal of the playoffs.
Kirkland Lake Forward Ryan Auberton would score his 1st marker of the playoffs on a one-timer shot just a minute later to bring his team within two.
“When you get up 4-0 so quickly you tend to take a lull after,” said Head Coach Scott Wray, whose team improved to 4-1 in the NOJHL playoffs.
“We just tried to stick to our game plan after the great start. Anything can happen in this league and especially against the potent offense from Kirkland Lake so we tried to respect their skill and I’m very proud with how the guys responded in the third to get the win.”
Despite being outshot 14-5 in the middle frame, the Voodoos narrowly restored the lead twice with both D’Agostino and defenceman Jeremy St. Pierre hitting posts on Gold Miners goaltender Devon Debastos after he replaced Josh Erickson to start the second.
Powassan got their legs going again in the third with a big goal by Forward Nathan McLeod, who notched his 1st of the playoffs on a rebound chance from line-mates Tyler Gervais-Rolfe and Aaron Dart.
The Voodoos squandered any hopes of a Kirkland Lake comeback after Defenceman Bo Peltier scored an empty-net goal to seal the deal for Powassan.
With the victory, Powassan took a 2-1 series lead against the Gold Miners, who finished in atop the East Division standings in the regular season with 40 points more than the Voodoos.
Game 4 between these two is set for Wednesday night at the Powassan Sportsplex. Game time is 7:00 p.m.
