Goals coming at even strength, the power play and shorthanded in the second period proved pivotal as the Powassan Voodoos went on to defeat the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 5-2 in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play Wednesday evening at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex in Kirkland Lake.
A highway closure resulted in a late arrival for the Voodoos and the game was over an hour late before it got underway.
Kirkland Lake opened the scoring 11:21 into things when Casey Gerstein connected for a second straight outing while picking up assists from Cameron Neaylon and Robert McLaughlin.
Powassan came back to tie it before the first period was complete as Gregory Trudeau-Paquet notched his 28th of the season, which set a personal single-campaign high for the veteran forward.
Moving on to the second stanza, the visiting Voodoos took the lead 4:20 in thanks to Brett Shawana’s 12th of the year and sixth in his past eight outings.
The guests then added to their cushion as Seiji Martone supplied his eighth at 11:54 as he converted via the power play.
Down a skater three minutes later, Powassan added to their lead as Tomas Yachmenev accounted for his second shorthanded effort of the season to put the guests up by three.
They then had a chance to get one late, but Martone was stymied on a penalty shot by Kohl Reddy in the Kirkland Lake net.
Nick Wagner brought the hosts back to within to under eight minutes remaining in regulation, however, Ryan Mills secured the road win for the Voodoos with an empty netter before time expired to round out the night’s scoring.
Yachmenev and Eric Allair chipped in with two assists each to aid the Powassan cause.
Shots on goal finished up 38-28 in favour of the Gold Miners with Christian Cicigoi getting the win while Reddy suffered the setback as the Voodoos completed a home-and-home sweep over the past two nights.
The Voodoos are back home on Friday night when they host the visiting Cochrane Crunch. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the Powassan Sportsplex
