NOJHL sides go winless on the road Friday vs. inter-league competition

Photo: Leith Dunick / TBnewswatch.com

SUDBURY, Ont. – A four-pack of Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League clubs saw action Friday with the Powassan Voodoos, Espanola Paper Kings and Blind River Beavers competing against Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) in the Valley Cottage Cup preseason tournament in Renfrew, Ont.

Meanwhile, the Hearst Lumberjacks played their first of three versus the Kam River Fighting Walleye (SIJHL) in the TELECO Cup at Oliver-Paipoonge, just outside of Thunder Bay.

Here’s a rundown on all four games:

NEPEAN RAIDER 8 POWASSAN VOODOOS 4: Powassan fell behind early and could not recover as Nepean skated away with the victory.

Down 2-0 deep into the first period, Justin Rousseau got one back for the Voodoos before the intermission.

A three-goal outburst in the opening half of the middle session extended the Raiders lead, prior to Parker McLelland and Tucker Shields connecting for the NOJHL side to make it a 5-3 game after 40 minutes.

Another trio of tallies for Nepean helped seal the outcome before Reyth Smith rounded out the scoring late for Powassan.

Tyson Wilcox and Miles Gordon both saw time in net for the Voodoos in defeat, where shots on goals finished up at 38 apiece.

CARLETON PLACE CANADIANS 8 ESPANOLA PAPER KINGS 2 – Carleton Place erupted for five first period markers, including two from Shayne Bjorn, en route to the win.

Seeing their initial action in the preseason, the Paper Kings shored things up defensively in the second stanza, which was scoreless deep into the frame, until the Canadians’ Thomas Enrietto put them up six at 18:16.

Grant Booth countered to put Espanola on the board in the final minute, with help from Owen Ferguson and Owen Guthrie.

A well-tested Carleton Place squad, having played multiple exhibition match-ups already, added to their edge in the third, to go up by seven, prior to Spencer Horgan banging one for the Paper Kings in during a man advantage at 6:23 to wrap things up offensively.

Paper Kings’ goaltender Jake Marois faced 36 attempts against in defeat, with Espanola putting as many shots on CPC’s Ty Ferguson.

RENFREW WOLVES 6 BLIND RIVER BEAVERS 2 – The host Wolves took control early by taking a 3-1 lead into the first intermission, led by Wyatt Hickok’s goal and two assists.

Sergy Sushchenko got the Beavers’ lone tally in the session, which came near the midway mark of the period.

Blind River’s Nathaniel Perez got them closer early in the second, with assists going to Tyler Vorstadt and Mason Morden.

However, Renfrew countered by striking three times before the end of the frame to go up 6-2 after two.

Third period action saw no further scoring before time expired.

Beavers’ goaltender Richard Szajek faced 33 shots against in a losing cause while the Wolves’ Vyacheslav Gordeichuk made 18 stops in a winning cause.

KAM RIVER FIGHTING WALLEYE 2 HEARST LUMBERJACKS 1 – A fast-paced opening frame saw the Walleye outshoot the Lumberjacks 13-8, but it remained with a goal through 20 minutes.

Kam River, the reigning Superior International Junior Hockey League-champions, broke the deadlock five minutes into period No. 2 when Johnny Timmons went in alone on a breakaway and made no mistake.

Hearst pressed for the equalizer, pumping 14 shots on Walleye goalkeeper Ashton Sadouskas in the frame, but could not solve him, as the score stayed 1-0 for the hosts after two.

In the third, persistence paid off as the Lumberjacks’ Julien Trudel tied it three and a half minutes into the frame, with help from Cooper Moore and Damien Bourdon-Lemoyne.

Regaining the lead with 9:03 to go in regulation, the home side’s Max Wright ripped one top shelf to put the hosts back in front for good, in what proved to be the evening’s final marker.

Kam River out shot Hearst 34-30 on the night with Sadouskas getting the win while Tristan Boileau suffered the narrow defeat.

The two teams will meet again Saturday in a 7:30 p.m. start at Nor’West Arena.