Sixteen-year-old Rock goalie Ayden Mullen and blue-liner Ben Climenhaga track the puck in the corner to the right of the Timmins net during the third period of Friday night’s NOJHL contest at the McIntyre Arena. Mullen stopped all 36 shots he faced to earn his first NOJHL shutout as the Rock went on to blank the Powassan Voodoos 5-0. Photo by THOMAS PERRY /The Daily Press
Evan Katic’s sixth goal of the season, eight minutes into the opening period, stood up to be the game-winning marker
Thomas Perry
The Daily Press/Postmedia Network
Ayden Mullen stopped all 36 shots he faced to backstop the Timmins Rock to a 5-0 win over the Powassan Voodoos at the McIntyre Arena, Friday night.
It was the second shutout of the season for the 16-year-old Kingston product whose first whitewash came against the Hearst Lumberjacks back on Oct. 7.
“It’s fantastic, a long time coming,” Mullen said, shortly after the buzzer had sounded on the victory. “It’s the best feeling in the world.”
Leading 5-0, it appeared the Rock were in total control of the contest and Mullen’s shutout was in the bag, but a late penalty with just 43 seconds remaining on the clock gave the Voodoos one last opportunity to spoil things.
And they came darn close to doing just that, as back-to-back chances from in close called upon Mullen to make perhaps his most difficult stops of the game.
“I just kind of had the mindset of stopping one shot at a time,” he said. “I’ve got ice in my veins, I guess.
“The backdoor save at the end (the first of the bang-bang shots he faced shorthanded in the final seconds) was pretty difficult. I had to make a pretty good save.”
Given the struggles the Rock have gone through since the Voodoos ended their 21-game winning streak on Jan. 20, Mullen stressed the win was even more important than the shutout.
“It was great to get back into the win column against Iroquois Falls (on Feb. 22), obviously, and continue our streakiness,” he said.
The Rock have now won two-straight games, allowing just one goal in the two games, and showing signs they are starting to right the ship with the playoffs just around the corner.
Mullen acknowledged it felt especially good to get the win and shutout against the Voodoos.
“They started our slump, I guess you could say, and we bounced back tonight, so it was great,” he said.
Mullen appreciated the solid work his teammates did in front of him Friday, night.
“It was a great 20-man effort,” he said.
Mullen received plenty of offensive support from his teammates.
Evan Katic’s sixth goal of the season, eight minutes into the opening period, stood up to be the game-winning marker.
The Rock added a trio of unanswered tallies in the middle frame to take control of things.
Kaeden McArthur’s 33rd goal of the season was followed by Maxx Hamelin’s 15th marker of the campaign.
The real dagger, however, proved to be Lucas Lowe’s ninth goal of the season with just 33 seconds remaining in the frame.
Derrick Champagne, who started in goal for the Voodoos, was pulled at the start of the third period, with Matthew Lyon coming on in relief.
It would not matter, however, as Matteo Paradiso’s 17th goal of the campaign, late in the third period, proved to be the icing on the cake.
In addition to earning him his second shutout of the season, Mullen’s 36-save effort produced his 14th win of the season.
Champagne, who stopped 27 of the 31 shots the Rock directed his way in his 40 minutes of action, was tagged with the loss. Lyon stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced during his 20 minutes of relief work.
NOJHL NOTES — The Daily Press three stars of the game were Mullen (36 saves, shutout, win), McArthur (one goal, one assist) and Katic (game-winning goal) … The Rock went 0-2 on the power play, while the Voodoos were 0-5 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the McIntyre Arena was 773 … Friday’s other action saw the Greater Sudbury Cubs top the Lumberjacks 5-2 in Hearst, the Thunderbirds triple the Soo Eagles 9-3 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and the Storm double up the Espanola Paper Kings 4-2 in Iroquois Falls … The Rock will return to action on Sunday when they host the Greater Sudbury Cubs at the McIntyre Arena, at 1 p.m.
