POWASSAN, Ont. – A Tomas Yachmenev tally in the fourth round of the shootout was the difference as the soaring Powassan Voodoos pulled out their 12th consecutive victory, a 4-3 decision over the Timmins Rock, in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play Saturday at the Powassan Sportsplex.
In a match-up with the top two teams in the overall standings, it was Powassan that started the night’s scoring on Gregory Trudeau-Paquet’s 10th of the campaign at 4:09 of the first period.
Timmins came right back to level the proceedings less than a minute later with Riley Robitaille collecting the equalizer as the sides went to in the intermission knotted at one.
Skating in their annual Pink the Rink jerseys, the Voodoos took the lead once more as Sam Ellwood scored early in the middle frame.
However, the Rock answered a minute and a half later with Derek Seguin scoring.
Back and forth they went with Powassan taking their third lead of the event 11 and a half minutes into the stanza with Brett Shawana striking for the hosts.
Coming back once more, Timmins forced extra time with 4:19 remaining in regulation on a David Laroche effort as, along with an earlier assist, he now has points in all eight games he has played with Timmins since joining the club in late September.
After a scoreless overtime, extra shots were needed to decide things.
Seiji Martone and Laroche both converted for their respective sides in the initial rounds to send it to a fourth chance per side.
After the Voodoos’ Owen Say made a stop, Yachmenev skated in slowly on top of Timmins’ Tyler Masternak before quickly let loose a snap shot that went through the legs and in to end the Rock’s eight-game winning streak while extending his team’s run to a dozen.
Say finished with 33 saves to record the win while Masternak’s 31 stops helped his side earn a point in defeat.