Thunderbirds dominate Beavers

Winning continues to be a habit for the Soo Thunderbirds.

After a stretch of six-straight on the road, the Thunderbirds returned home on Wednesday night to beat the Blind River Beavers 8-2 in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the Essar Centre.

Matt Pinder paced the Thunderbirds offensively with a pair of goals.

Matt Busby, Matthew Mitchell, Drake Pilon and Zach Senecal added a goal and an assist each for the Thunderbirds.

Brett Jeffries assisted on three goals while Darian Pilon added a pair of assists.

Ryan Mulligan and Matt Caruso also scored.

Thunderbirds netminder Nathan Warren had a light night, stopping nine of 11 Blind River shots.

Alex Dajia and Ted Davis scored for Blind River.

Beavers goaltender Matt Blatenberger got the start, stopping 43 of 48 Thunderbirds shots in two periods. Martin Miloslavich stopped seven of 10 shots in the third period.

With the win, the Thunderbirds improve to 21-2-0-0 and move 11 points ahead of the Elliot Lake Wildcats in the NOJHL’s West Division standings.

The Thunderbirds trail the league-leading Cochrane Crunch by one point heading into the weekend though the Thunderbirds have three games in hand.

The Beavers fall to 4-22-1-0 with the loss.

The Thunderbirds return to action on Sunday evening against the Soo (MI) Eagles. Puck drop at the Essar Centre is 7:30 p.m.

Notes: A pair of Thunderbirds players have been invited to try out for Team Canada East, which will compete in the World Junior A Challenge, scheduled for Dec. 13-19 in Cobourg and Whitby, Ontario.

Defenceman Caleb Boman and forward Darian Pilon have been invited to the tryout, which opens on Dec. 6 in Etobicoke, ON.

Boman is second among NOJHL defencemen scoring with 25 points in 22 games.

Pilon had 10 goals and 28 points in 22 games.

In other team news, the Thunderbirds announced on Wednesday afternoon that defenceman Andrew Barbeau has been dealt to the Greater Ontario Hockey League’s Niagara Falls Canucks.

The Thunderbirds received a player development fee in return.

In 36 career games with the Thunderbirds, Barbeau had two goals and 11 points.