POWASSAN – The Timmins Rock dropped a 4-3 double-overtime decision to the Voodoos Friday night at the Sportsplex, but still managed to move one point close to fourth place in the NOJHL’s East Division standings.
Starting the night, the Rock trailed Hearst by four points but the single point they were able to secure against the Voodoos, combined with the Lumberjacks 6-3 loss to the Beavers in Blind River saw that gap reduced to three points.
By Thomas Perry, The Daily Press (Timmins)
A strong first period saw the Rock jump out to a 3-1 lead at the Sportsplex after the Voodoos drew first blood.
It took the Rock just over a minute to knot things up at 1-1 after Nicolas Case had given the home side an early advantage with his 13th goal of the season.
Former Voodoo Tyler Gilberds got the visitors back on even terms when he netted a power-play marker, his 11th goal of the season at the 4:43 mark of the opening frame.
A pair of goals late in the opening 20 minutes they gave the Rock a two-goal lead heading into the first intermission.
Jordan Picard’s 13th goal of the season with 2:42 remaining in the frame put the visitors in front and C.J. Bradburn’s 16th goal of the season 43 seconds later made it a 3-1 hockey game.
The Voodoos came out flying in the second period, however, and cut the Rock advantage to 3-2 while outshooting their opponents 11-4 in the frame.
Cade Herd’s 17th goal of the season accounted for the only scoring in the period.
The Voodoos continued to turn up the heat in the third period, outshooting the Rock 15-6 and eventually tying things up at 3-3 on Harrison Israels 34th goal of the season at the 4:44 mark.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net during the first four-on-four overtime period, but the Voodoos struck for the game-winning marker two minutes into the second three-on-three frame.
Shane Beaulieu proved to be the double-overtime hero, netting his 20th goal of the season.
With the win, the NOJHL-leading Voodoos improve to 39-7-1-3 on the season, while the Rock fall to 17-26-3-3.
Voodoos goalie Christian Cicigoi turned aside 20 of the 23 shots the Rock fired his way to pick up his 21st win of the season.
Rock goalie Tyler Masternak blocked 39 of the 43 shots he faced and he was tagged with the loss.
NOJHL NOTES — The three stars of the game were Beaulieu, Voodoos defenceman Eric Nagy and Bradburn … Defenceman Collin McGuire, who played nine games earlier this season with the Lumberjacks, made his debut in a Rock uniform Friday night … The Rock did not dress forward Stewart Parnell (upper-body injury) and forward Jace Soroko (undisclosed) … The Rock went 1-3 on the power play, while the Voodoos were 0-5 with the man advantage … Official attendance at the Sportsplex was 194 … Friday’s other action saw the French River Rapids dump the Express 8-3 in Espanola and the Rayside-Balfour Canadians edge the Eagles 2-1 in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. … The Rock will conclude their two-game road trip with a visit to French River Saturday night. The Rock will then return home to host the Cochrane Crunch at the McIntyre Arena on Monday. With it being Family Day, the contest is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.
