Surrounded by teammates, from left, Jordan Picard, Jun Yi (Frank) Zhong and Jared Hester, as well as Voodoos Brandon MacKinnon, left, and Cade Herd, Timmins Rock goalie Tyler Masternak pounces on a loose puck in his crease during the first period of Game 1 of their NOJHL East Division semi-final series at the Powassan Sportsplex Friday night. The Voodoos scored five unanswered second period goals and went on to defeat the Rock 5-2 and take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. DAVE DALE/POSTMEDIA NETWORK
By Thomas Perry, The Daily Press (Timmins)
POWASSAN – The Timmins Rock’s second-period woes continued Friday night at the Sportsplex.
After being outscored 5-0 by the Hearst Lumberjacks in Game 1 and Game 2 of their East Division quarterfinal series, the Rock allowed five unanswered second-period markers in Game 1 of their East Division semi-final series while dropping a 5-2 decision to the Voodoos.
The Rock jumped out to a 1-0 first-period lead on Derek Seguin’s second goal of the playoffs, but the second period was all Voodoos Friday night.
Goals by Dylan D’Agostino and Cade Herd 40 seconds apart early in the frame allowed the Voodoos to tie things up and then establish a 2-1 lead.
They added to their lead three minutes later when Kobe Desmond scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal.
Shane Beaulieu’s first goal of the playoffs, with just under five minutes remaining in the period, increased the Voodoos’ lead to 4-1.
The real back breaker, however, was former Rock forward Ryan Theriault’s shorthanded goal with just 31 seconds remaining on the clock, which increase the home side’s advantage to four goals heading into the second intermission.
Rock starting goalie Tyler Masternak was given the hook, with Eric Jackson coming on to start the third period.
The goaltending change provided the Rock with a little bit of a momentum swing and they were able to cut the Voodoos lead to 5-2 on Riley Brousseau’s power-play goal late in the final period.
That would be as close as the Rock would come to getting back on even terms, however, leaving the final score 5-2 in favour of the Voodoos.
Voodoos goalie Julian Galloway stopped 19 of the 21 shots the Rock fired his way to earn his first win of the playoffs.
Masternak, who stopped 26 of the 31 shots he faced in the first two periods, was tagged with the loss for the Rock. Jackson stopped all seven shots he faced during the third period.
NOJHL NOTES — The three stars were Beaulieu, Desmond and Galloway … The Rock did not dress defenceman Collin McGuire (undisclosed), forward Paul Spadafora (undisclosed), defenceman Eric Paquette (undisclosed) and forward C.J. Bradburn (upper-body injury) … The Rock went 1-6 on the power play, but surrendered a shorthanded goal, while the Voodoos were 0-6 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the Powassan Sportsplex was 350 … Friday night’s other action saw the Crunch take Game 1 of the other East Division semi-final series from the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 5-3 in Cochrane and the Blind River Beaves upset the Canadians 4-1 in Game 1 of one of the West Division semi-final series in Rayside-Balfour … The Rock and the Voodoos will play Game 2 of their East Division semi-final series Saturday night at the Powassan Sportsplex. Game 3 will be played back at the McIntyre Arena on Tuesday night, starting at 7 p.m.
