Noah Metivier earned his fourth shutout of the playoffs and helped lead the Greater Sudbury Cubs to a 5-0 win over the Powassan Voodoos on Sunday, and allowed them to take a 2-1 series lead in the race to the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League final.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series was played at the Powassan Sportsplex.
“Supplying an eventual early game-winner, the Cubs opened the scoring just over three minutes into the match-up as defenceman Brock Houser moved along the blueline and took a Noah Kohan feed and fired a shot from the high slot that hit off a defender and flipped past Voodoos’ netminder Daniel Dirracolo,” the league said in a news release.
Both teams were a bit chippy out of the gate and the first period was a testy affair with more than its share of penalties. By intermission, the Cubs single goal was all that had been scored in the first.
The Voodoos picked up a couple of power plays in the second period, but couldn’t beat Metivier. The Cubs didn’t have that concern though, and earned themselves two goals in the middle frame.
Greater Sudbury made it 2-0 when, after breaking up a play in their own zone, the puck found its way onto the stick of Marshall McCharles. He flew down the left wing on a two-on-one, blasting a shot at Voodoos’ netminder Dirracolo as he crossed the blue line that found the back of the net.
It was McCharles’ second goal in as many games.
“Heading to the third, Greater Sudbury made it 3-0 by converting on a man advantage, just over five minutes in, seeing Hudson Chitaroni whip-in a one-timer from the right circle, off a Nolan Newton backhand pass.”
As if a 3-0 lead weren’t enough, Newton would set up another Cubs’ goal a few minutes later after he outraced a Voodoos’ defender to an iced puck and fed Noah Kohan speeding toward the Powassan net. Kohan didn’t miss his chance and made it 4-0.
The Voodoos pulled their goalie late in the third, looking to get at least one goal, but the gamble backfired after Chitaroni got hold of the puck at mid-ice and fired in an empty-netter to make it 5-0.
The Cubs now hold a 2-1 lead in the NOJHL championship series. Game 4 is also being played in Powassan. That match goes this evening with a 7 p.m. start. The action than returns to Sudbury for Game 5 on April 25.
The team that wins the NOJHL banner will battle for the Centennial Cup and the title of Canadian National Junior A champion from May 9-19, in Oakville.
