Bradley Golant’s second goal of the game, 9:37 into overtime helped the Hearst Lumberjacks pull out a 4-3 decision over the Powassan Voodoos Sunday evening in Game 2 of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League East Division Final at Claude Larose Arena.
With another extra time triumph, the Lumberjacks now lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 with Game 3 slated for Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the Powassan Sportsplex.
The lone marker in the opening 20 minutes was provided by the visitors at 3:18 as Brett Shawana, in the slot, finished off the work of teammates Samuel Bourdages and Gabinien Kioki.
Hearst came back to tie it, 6:03 into the middle stanza after Justin Miron powered his way along the boards on the left side and worked it over to Golant, who lifted a backhand high over Voodoos netminder Joe Vrbetic.
The Lumberjacks then came back and added another just over a minute later as Max Johnson snapped one through the legs of Vrbetic from the high slot.
It was more Hearst at 11:49 as Blaise Arkle clicked on the power play with assists going to Troy Daniels and Christian James-McDonald.
Battling back, Bourdages buried a chance from close range in the final minute of the period to bring the guests to within one.
Powassan then added another to force OT with just under four minutes remaining in regulation with Bourdages adding another as his attempt from the left circle was fired over the glove of Nicholas Tallarico in the Lumberjacks net to knot the affair at 3-3.
In the extra session though, it would be the Lumberjacks who triumphed once more as James-McDonald knocked the puck down in the neutral zone and carried it into the Voodoos zone and got it over to Bradley Golant who had a couple of attempts before stuffing in the game-winner from the top of crease to give Hearst another OT win.
It's the Voodoos third overtime loss in the past four games.
James-McDonald finished his night with three assists, including one on the difference maker, while Bourdages had a three-point performance for Powassan.
The Voodoos did hold the edge in shots on goal by a 41-33 margin with Tallarico earning the victory while Vrbetic suffered his second consecutive extra time defeat.
The Voodoos are back on home ice on Wednesday night for game three, with game four taking place on Thursday. Both games will take place at the Powassan Sportsplex.
All NOJHL playoff games are streamed online at HockeyTV.com.
