Voodoos vs Rock Sept 25 16 from Chris Dawson on Vimeo.
Wayne Mathieu had five points, and his fourth goal of the night, in the second overtime period won it for his Timmins Rock, 7-6 over the Voodoos Sunday Night at the Powassan Sportsplex.
The Rock have now reeled off four straight victories following an opening night loss to the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners.
The game script was eerily similar to that of the 9-1 drubbing the Voodoos endured in Timmins Thursday. Voodoos scored first in both games. Head Coach Scott Wray pulled his starting goalkeeper early in both games. Undisciplined penalties by the Voodoos led to scoring chances. The Rock scored four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead in both matches.
But, the similarities ended there. The Voodoos re-wrote the script, just without the desired happy ending.
After rookie Kyle Challis scored his first career goal on slick feeds from Rhys Brown and Dylan D'Agostino, the Voodoos looked like they might pick up where they left off after the previous night's 6-0 manhandling of the Blind River Beavers.
Any thoughts of an easy night were stomped out with three Rock markers in less than two minutes, sending the home team to the break down 3-1 after one.
Wayne Mathieu scored his second goal just 24 seconds into the second, and the gasp by the Powassan fans seemed to indicate that they thought the rout was on.
Cue the comeback. Gary Mantz showed great patience, and picked his spot after a sharp pass from Andy Baker. Tyler Gervais-Rolfe also picked up an assist on the goal.
Saturday's scoring hero, defenceman Dayton Murray potted his fourth of the weekend, and sixth on the campaign, assisted by Ryan Bazzana and Challis, to cut the lead to 4-3.
Challis then equalized on the power play, and the crowd was back into it. Mantz and Murray had the helpers.
The game's pendulum then swung back in the Rock's favour. Tyler Romain, assisted by Mathieu, made it 5-4, as Nate McDonald, who had come on in the first in relief of Nicholas Campbell, made a great lunge to block a blistering shot, but did not get enough of the puck.
Down one goal to start the third, the Voodoos allowed Mathieu to complete the hat trick, making it 6-4 with just under 16 minutes to play.
Cue the comeback, part two. At 14:31 of the third, a persistent Andy Baker hit paydirt with the man advantage, after a broken rush produced a rebound that he made no mistake on.
With the McDonald on the bench, the Voodoos buzzed around the Rock net, looking for the tying goal. Gary Mantz, who always seems to get the puck to bounce onto his stick at just the right time, slammed the puck past Rock goalie Matthew Nixon to make it 6-6 and bring the fans to their feet once more.
There were some good chances in the first 4-on-4 overtime, but no one could end it, so the faithful got some more bonus hockey for their money.
The Voodoos pressed the Rock in the 3-on-3 second overtime, drawing a Timmins tripping penalty 46 seconds into the five minute extra period.
With a 4-on-3 advantage, power play specialist Dayton Murray had the puck take a funny bounce at the Rock blueline and Mathieu zoomed down the ice. With Murray vainly chasing him down, Mathieu calmly slid the puck under McDonald to send his teammates piling over the boards in celebration.
Asked if the way the game was decided bothered him, Coach Wray definitively said "You don't want a shorthanded breakaway. Ever."
Wray second-guessed his decision to only have defenceman Murray on the ice with three forwards in that situation, but felt that going for the jugular on the power play in the second overtime was the play.
"I'm proud of the way the guys came back, and of McDonald for picking up Campbell," said Wray, who noted that he had not lost faith in Campbell, saying he would be getting work soon enough.
The Rock have the Voodoos number so far this season, but the bottom line, according to Wray is that "they battled back. They didn't give up after being down. I'm proud of those guys."
The Voodoos visit the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners Friday night, and return home for a Monday, October 3 tussle with the French River Rapids.
