A three-goal first period proved to be enough as the Powassan Voodoos picked up their fifth consecutive victory Wednesday in defeating the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 5-2 in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play at the Powassan Sportsplex.
Chase Thompson led the offence with 1 goal and 2 assists.
Caleb Dawson added 1 goal and 1 assist, while Cameron Lemcke and Rhys Smetham provided two assists each in the final regular season home game for the Voodoos.
The hometown Voodoos opened the scoring 12:52 in when captain Alex Little jumped into the rush and saw the defenceman snap in a cross-ice feed from Rhys Smetham.
Adding another just over a minute later, Mathieu MacMillan notched his 25th tally of the campaign as he was sent in alone on a breakaway and ripped his chance into the bottom right corner on Gold Miners’ goaltender Graydon Mole.
A third in the session saw Powassan click on the power play with blueliner Alexander Case moving in and firing one in from a sharp angle before Mole could get across his crease to keep it out.
Second period play saw Kirkland Lake get on the board at 7:51 as Jacob Lamoureux had a couple of cracks in close before eventually chipping one over a downed Daniel Dirracolo in the Voodoos net.
Staying 3-1 for the hosts into the final frame, Kirkland Lake pulled to within one at 5:20, by converting on a man advantage, when Martin Brusoe whipped a shot through the legs of Dirracolo from inside the blueline, for his initial NOJHL tally.
A couple of late markers put the game away for Powassan, beginning with a Caleb Dawson effort that saw him steer in a Cameron Lemcke pass before Chase Thompson iced it by jamming in a loose puck moments after Dawson was thwarted on a partial break.
The result improves the Voodoos overall record to 35-18-1-2, one point clear of Hearst, as those two teams vie for home ice advantage in their upcoming NOJHL East playoff match-up.
The Voodoos are back on the ice Thursday night when they travel to Sudbury to face the Greater Sudbury Cubs. The Voodoos then wrap up the regular season on Saturday night when they visit the French River Rapids.
