Strong 2nd sends Powassan past Hearst

POWASSAN, Ont. – The Powassan Voodoos rode the strength of a five-goal second period to send them on their way to a 7-2 triumph over the Hearst Lumberjacks in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair Friday at the Powassan Sportsplex.

Powassan got the jump on Hearst with the night’s opening tally 8:19 into the contest as Ryan Theriault picked up his 18th goal of the season.

Tyson Gilmour picked up one of the assists on the play helping him run a point streak to eight consecutive games.

The home side then blew it open in the middle stanza as they connected five times to take control.

Nicolas Case started the offensive outburst at 3:03 while Gilmour’s 25th, coming on the power play, along with Kobe Desmond and Quintin Loon-Stewardson in rapid succession upped the lead to 5-0 with half a game to play.

Powassan kept coming and added another off the stick of Harrison Israels as the rookie forward picked up his 35th marker of 2017-18.

Hearst would cut into the deficit three minutes later as Max Griffioen’s 21st put the visitors on the board.

They added another off the stick of Maxim Lacroix deep into the final frame before Desmond wrapped things up in the final minute with his second of the evening and 14th overall.

Voodoos’ defenceman Cameron Moore also had a solid night with three assists.

Julian Galloway picked up the victory for Powassan making 33 saves along the way.

Jonathan Passarelli started for Hearst and suffered the loss allowing five against on while facing 29 shots in defeat for the Lumberjacks with Matt Kustra handling 12 of 14 in relief.