Voodoos forward Steve Harland looks up to the sky after his shot on a partial breakaway hit the cross bar. PHOTO BY SHANNA WRAY.
The Powassan Voodoos battled hard but failed to capitalize on key chances as the Elliot Lake Wildcats skated away with a 5-3 victory in what was a heated affair at the Sportsplex on Saturday night.
Voodoos Goaltender Matt Young was peppered with shots to begin the game before his Powassan teammates found their legs. It wasn’t until the 16 minute mark of the opening period that the game saw its first goal as Elliot Lake Forward Alex MacKenzie wristed his 11th of the year through traffic to beat Young under the arm. Forward Connor Scott added to the Wildcats lead shortly after with an excellent individual effort to tuck a backhand shot passed Young for a 2-0 Elliot Lake lead.
“Elliot Lake is tough to play and they play a good system,” said Young, who faced 35 shots in the loss.
“They’ve got a lot of good players with accurate shots so we have to get guys on them and I have to make a big save here and there so keep the score close.”
The second period proved to be much more even as both teams came out flying. The Voodoos Jake Staples scored his 10th goal of the season off a broken play in front of Wildcats Goaltender A.J Smith.
Smith was able to bounce back however; turning aside every other shot he faced including back-to-back breakaways by the Voodoos.
Young played equally well in the middle frame for Powassan as he shut down the Wildcats run-and-gun offense to keep the score 2-1.
The Voodoos were unable to maintain the intensity in the third though as the Wildcats scored two quick goals by Nathan Campbell and leading scorer Cole Hepler to widen the lead.
Battalion prospect David Sherman notched his 11th of the year on the power-play to claw back into the lead but the comeback was short-lived as Connor Scott would eventually score his 2nd goal of the game for Elliot Lake. Powassan would add a late goal courtesy of a tip in from Garry Mindus to make it 5-3 but that’s as close as they would get.
The Voodoos went 1 for 3 with the man-advantage as multiple infractions were handed out nearing the end of the contest.
Powassan was outshot 35-31 in the game as Elliot Lake Goaltender A.J Smith made 28 saves to pick up his 18th victory of the season.
Voodoos leading scorer Steve Harland was held off the score-sheet for only the second time in his last 33 games.
The Voodoos are back in action on Monday night as they face the rival Mattawa Blackhawks at home. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.
