TIMMINS, Ont. – A Gregory Trudeau-Paquet goal 43 seconds into overtime was the difference as the Powassan Voodoos pulled out a wild 5-4 victory over the Timmins Rock in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League matinee Sunday afternoon at McIntyre Arena.
It didn’t take Timmins long to open the scoring as they converted on an early man advantage opportunity, with Riley Robitaille knocking in a rebound from close range off a Josh Anderson point shot.
Things looked good for the Rock to carry their lead into the intermission, but the vaunted Powassan offense saw them strike three times late in rapid succession to take a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes.
The Voodoos began their quick outburst at 18:40 after Parker Bowman forced a turnover that resulted in Gabinien Kioki lifting a backhand over the blocker of Timmins’ starter Tyler Masternak.
Coming right back, the visitors added another 56 seconds later as Masternak got a piece of a Sam Ellwood attempt that bounced and inadvertently went off the skate of the Powassan forward and trickled across the goal line.
Taking a penalty after that tally, the Voodoos made the home side pay as Kioki collected his second of the frame as some hard work from Ellwood off a stretch pass helped him tuck the puck past the outstretched pad of the Rock netminder at 19:41.
Timmins pounded 20 shots on Owen Say in the Powassan goal in the second stanza, but could not solve the first-year stopper as the guests carried their two-tally lead into the final frame.
Backed by their goaltender, the Voodoos added some insurance nine minutes into the third as Bowman stuffed in a loose puck off a goal mouth scramble to extend the lead to 4-1.
However, countering, the Rock forced a turnover behind the net a couple of shifts later and got it in front to Tyler Gilberds who hammered one in from the top of the crease to pull his side back to within two.
Continuing to press, the Rock picked up a two-man advantage and capitalized with 3:04 left as Robitaille snapped one in from the left circle for his second marker of the day.
Still on the power play, Timmins kept coming and collected the equalizer with Stewart Parnell jamming in his first of the season at 18:13 to help force extra time.
Heading to OT, Powassan eventually prevailed as Say made a stop that went right to Trudeau-Paquet, who darted down the right wing and fired the game-winner past Masternak to help the Voodoos complete a three-game road sweep that also featured victories in Cochrane Friday and Hearst Saturday.
Say finished with 53 saves and had an assist on the decider in securing the win while Masternak’s 26 stops helped the Rock earn a point in defeat.
Photos by Andrew Autio