The top two clubs in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s East Division were fit to be tied Monday evening as the teams battled to a hard-fought 2-2 double-overtime draw at the Powassan Sportsplex.
After both franchises notched their 125th NOJHL regular season wins in team history over the weekend, neither side was the first to victory No. 126 on this night.
Austin Whelan staked the visiting Crunch to the lead Monday as his sixth of the season at 14:15 proved to be the lone tally of the session which has delayed as Voodoos forward Harrison Israels was taken to hospital after a hit by Connor Lovie that left him unconscious on the ice.
An early second-period power play saw Powassan draw level thanks to a Payton Vescio blast moments into the man advantage.
However, Cochrane came right back less than a minute later to regain the lead with Eli Hernandez burying his third of the campaign at 2:28.
The Voodoos were once again quick to counter tying it at 2-2 a couple shifts later compliments of Tyson Gilmour’s 14th marker in 2017-18 on an evening where he also ran a consecutive game point streak to nine in succession in the process.
It remained knotted throughout the rest of the session, into the third as well as both five-minute OT sessions with neither side giving anything up defensively as they each skated to a well deserved one point each in the league standings.
A big reason for the draw was the play of the two goaltenders with Taylor Unruh turning aside 38 of the 40 shots he faced in net for the Crunch while Christian Cicigoi handled 27 of the 29 attempts he saw fired his way between the pipes for Powassan.
The Voodoos are back action on Friday, December 8th when they host the Espanola Express in their final home game of 2017. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the Powassan Sportsplex.
