The Hearst Lumberjacks might not have beaten the Greater Sudbury Cubs for a third time this year last week - but they still came as close as anyone in the NOJHL (Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League) in being able to slow down the steamroller that is the junior hockey unit being guided by head coach Darryl Moxam.

Entering their matchup in Sudbury last Thursday with a season record to date versus the Cubs of 3-1-0-0, the league's northernmost franchise made the number one team in the country work for the win as Sudbury trimmed Hearst 4-3.

Up 3-1 at the end of forty minutes, the Cubs gave themselves even more breathing room seven minutes into the third thanks to a power play goal from Lucas Signoretti but then held on as the Lumberjacks made things close with counters from DonHeaven Veilleux (9:50) and Tyler Patterson (14:09).

The teams traded tallies in the opening stanza, with Henry Ouellet converting on the power play for the visitors only to see Ben Harris answer with a short-handed goal of his own all of 33 seconds later.

Sudbury took control in period two as Samuel Assinewai drilled home his 28th and 29th strikes of the year as the Cubs extended their second lengthy winning streak of the season to 18 games with the win.

Karsen Chartier recorded 33 saves in earning the win in goal for the Cubs while Alexandre Boivin (23 saves / 27 shots) was tagged with the loss.

The Cubs needed a rare comeback to register victory number nineteen in a row Saturday night on the road, spotting the Powassan Voodoos a 3-0 first period lead before storming back to score six in a row in doubling the homeside 6-3.

Powassan surged out of the gate from the opening drop of the puck as Caleb Dawson, Eric Whitelaw and Owen Kahl all found the back on the net in a 20-minute stretch that also featured two major penalties (with game misconducts), as well as a match penalty.

The Cubs wasted little time fighting their way back in the second as a pair of snipes from Samuel Assinewai combined with the first in a Cubs' uniform from Michael MacLean and a power-play goal from Robin Rubic had the visitors ahead 4-3 after two.

Lucas Signoretti and Nolan Newton closed off the scoring in the third as Sudbury netminders Noah Beaulne and Karsen Chartier combined for the win, with Tyson Wilcox saddled with the loss in spite of a 51-save performance.

The Cubs will enter win number twenty in the books with ease this Thursday thanks to the scheduled forfeiture of the Elliot Lake Vikings before having to try and extend on the ice on Saturday with a short trip west to face the Espanola Paper Kings.