A Cameron Shanks goal late in the second period proved to be the game-winner as the Greater Sudbury Cubs went on to down the Powassan Voodoos 6-2 Wednesday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League mid-week match-up at the Powassan Sportsplex.
A tightly contested opening frame saw neither side convert offensively as the two sides headed to the first intermission still knotted at 0-0.
Action in the middle stanza opened up and saw Greater Sudbury click on the power play to break the stalemate.
That tally came at 6:16, with the Cubs up a skater, and saw Hudson Martin take a cross-ice pass from Samuel Assinewai and cruise through the left circle before ripping a high short-side shot over the blocker of Powassan starter Daniel Dirracolo.
Adding another, the Cubs broke out on an odd-man rush that eventually saw Josh Kavanagh join the play and chip in a backhand from in close.
The Voodoos got themselves on the board at 11:44, thanks to Alex Little, who had moved in from the point, then took an Alexander Case feed and whipped it over the shoulder of Cubs’ netminder Noah Metivier.
With the tally, Little becomes the Powassan franchise leader in career points among defencemen with 93.
Drawing level six minutes later, Little added an assist to his total after his drop pass helped Rhys Smetham fire one in front that was smartly buried by Caden Dubreuil.
However, the visitors retook the lead in the waning moments of the frame, compliments of Shanks, who darted into the Powassan zone and sizzled a shot over the glove of Dirracolo.
Moving to the third period, the Cubs restored their two-goal lead before the five-minute mark when Ben Lacroix came out from behind the net and stuffed the puck into the opposite corner.
Oliver Smith then potted an empty netter to make it 5-2, before Ben Harris clicked on a two-on-one, in the final seconds, to round out the night’s scoring.
The win for Metivier was his 11th of the season and 50th in his NOJHL career.
The Cubs continue to lead the NOJHL with a record of 22-17-5-0, good for 34 points. The team is in action at home tonight against the Blind River Beavers.
