McLean nets OT winner
Beavers blank Voodoos 1-0
Benefitting from a fortuitous bounce off the end boards, Ethan McLean backhanded in the game-winner 4:13 into overtime as the Blind River Beavers edged the Powassan Voodoos 1-0 Sunday afternoon in a hard-fought Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League goaltender’s duel at the Blind River Community Centre.
The best chance to convert in a scoreless first period came when Powassan’s Caleb Dawson rang a shot off the crossbar and out with 7:30 to play in the session.
From there, the goaltending battle between the Beavers’ Mason Janicki and Tomas Kniaziew of the Voodoos continued into the second stanza as the score remained 0-0 after 40 minutes.
Blind River looked to have notched the day’s opening goal early in the third, but the play was nullified by the officials after Kniaziew got tangled up with a Beavers’ skater in the crease.
With the scoreline remaining the same throughout regulation, the clubs headed to OT to try and find a winner.
After withstanding a Powassan power play to commence the extra session, the home side eventually prevailed when McLean darted down the left wing and fired a shot that went wide left of the net, but saw it skip off the end boards and out the other side where he quickly swatted in the game-winner to end it.
The shutout for Janicki was the first of his career in the league.
Of note, the last time a fully contested NOJHL matchup ended up 1-0 was back on February 14, 2023, when the Timmins Rock blanked the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners by the same score.
Meanwhile, the last 1-0 contest that was decided in overtime came on January 17, 2020, in game that saw the Soo Thunderbirds edge the Soo Eagles in extra time at Pullar Stadium.
