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Voodoos dump Eskis

Voodoos celebrate after a Tyler Gervais-Rolfe goal to give the Voodoos a 3-0 lead in the 2nd period. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.

 

Voodoos celebrate after a Tyler Gervais-Rolfe goal to give the Voodoos a 3-0 lead in the 2nd period.  PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.

The Powassan Voodoos made some beneficial roster changes prior to their game against the third place Abitibi Eskimos on Friday night as they skated away with a 4-1 victory.

After a trade earlier in the week that saw Goaltender Matt Young and Defenceman James Vuillemot come over from Cochrane in exchange for net-minder Ben Auger, the Voodoos kept making moves by calling up Forwards Jeff Jordan and Joe Whittet from The North Bay AAA Trappers.

These moves proved to pay off on Friday night as Powassan jumped out to an early 2-0 first period lead with goals by leading scorer Steve Harland and Defenceman Nicholas Proulx, who notched his first goal of the season. Both Jordan and Whittet picked up assists on the second marker as well.

Powassan’s Head Coach, Scott Wray spoke on how comfortable the two call-ups looked during the game.

“They already do all of the things we have been preaching to our team this year,” said Wray, who was more than thrilled to pick up his third win behind the bench this season.

“Their coaches are clearly doing a great job down there because when they get called up they are so structured and smart with their play that we don’t have to worry.”

The second frame began similar to how the first ended with the Voodoos relying on some steady goaltending by newcomer Matt Young followed by some early breakaway opportunities by both Stavros Soilis and Tyler Rolfe that saw each player rifling their shot of the crossbar behind Abitibi’s netminder, Chet Tooker. 

Rolfe, however, managed to make amends for his earlier miss by sniping his third goal of the year high glove side on Tooker to make it 3-0 for the Voodoos.

Powassan found themselves in an unlucky circumstance later in the second period after Matt Young lost his goalie stick behind the net and was forced to use his defenceman’s twig. The Voodoos were unable to clear the zone and eventually allowed Abitibi Forward, and leading scorer, Brady Cloutier to walk into the high slot and let a hard wrist shot past Young to make it 3-1.

Unfortunately for the Eskimos that was as close as they would get as Young turned aside 24 of 25 shots including an early third period breakaway stop off Abitibi Forward Scott Peng.

Coach Wray expressed how important Young’s play was for them in his first start with the new club. “Matt led us to victory tonight with his strong and steady play,” said Wray. “He did such a great job for us and we are really happy to have him in net.”

Young was named the game’s first star in his Voodoos debut while Steve Harland added a late empty net goal to increase his team-leading 14 points on the season.

The Voodoos next home game is tonight at 7:30 p.m. vs Elliot Lake.