TIMMINS, Ont. – Chase Thompson’s third goal of the game, coming a half-minute into the second overtime, lifted the Powassan Voodoos to a 4-3 victory over the Timmins Rock Thursday night in Game 5 of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League East Division Final in front of nearly 1,300 fans at McIntyre Arena.
With the outcome, Voodoos now take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven set moving to Game 6 Saturday in Powassan at 7 p.m.
A man advantage marker in the latter stages of the first period helped the Rock go in front as Brant Romaniuk skated into the Voodoos’ zone, and after cutting in on a defender snapped a shot from the right circle that beat goaltender Daniel Dirracolo.
Moving to the middle frame, the home side extended their edge early off rush up ice that resulted in Liam Wells taking a dish from Nolan Ring and wiring it past the glove of Dirracolo.
Powassan came back a couple of shifts later to get on the board when Tucker Shields forced a turnover in his own end which eventually allowed Cameron Lemcke to flip a saucer pass to Thompson, who in turn finished off the feed in putting it past Timmins netminder Patrick Boivin.
The Voodoos trio then generated a tying tally with three minutes left in the second, with Thompson completing another Lemcke set-up.
Action in the third period saw the clubs trade power play markers to help make it 3-3 after three.
Dylan McElhinny put the Voodoos in front at 8:17 as he took a Mathieu MacMillan pass and ripped it by Boivin.
Notching an equalizer less than four minutes later, Timmins captain Felix Cadieux-Fredette’s attempt from up high during a five-on-three clipped off the Dirracolo’s glove and flopped into the net.
In the first OT, some quality stops by the opposing goaltenders resulted in a scoreless session and sent it to a second extra frame.
Winning it early in double OT, Powassan’s Alex Little pushed a play ahead that led to Lemcke making a pass over to Thompson, who slammed in the game-winner from the left of Boivin, to end it.
With the triumph, the visiting team has won all five games in the series to date while the Voodoos improved to 6-0 in overtime in these playoffs.
NOJHL East Final
Powassan Voodoos vs. Timmins Rock
Powassan leads best-of-seven series 3-2
Game 1: Voodoos 3 Rock 2 (OT)
Game 2: Voodoos 3 Rock 2 (OT)
Game 3: Rock 4 Voodoos 1
Game 4: Rock 7 Voodoos 1
Game 5: Voodoos 4 Rock 3 (2OT)
Game 6: Saturday, April 13 @ Powassan 7 p.m. (Powassan Sportsplex)
Game 7*: Tuesday, April 16 @ Timmins 7:30 p.m. (McIntyre Arena)
*-if necessary
Game Photos:
Thomas Perry – The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
“Highlight of the Night” – NOJHL YouTube Channel
