Thunderbirds open round two against Sudbury

The Soo Thunderbirds were back in action on Thursday night after a short layoff following their first-round sweep of the Abitibi Eskimos in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs.

On Thursday, the Thunderbirds hosted the Sudbury Nickel Barons, picking up an opening game 4-1 win in the process.

The Nickel Barons entered the game fresh off a game seven win over the Elliot Lake Bobcats just 24 hours earlier.

The Thunderbirds jumped out to a 2-0 lead through one period and maintained the lead throughout the evening.

Brandon Warmington scored three times for the Thunderbirds and also had an assist in the win. Darcy Casola had a goal and an assist in the win.

Thunderbirds goaltender Joel Horodziejczyk stopped 25 shots in the win and held the Nickel Barons off the scoreboard until late in the third period when Ryan Punkari spoiled the shutout bid with just over three minutes remaining in the game.

Michael Muzyka got the start for the Nickel Barons in goal but was pulled after the Thunderbirds third goal early in the second period. Muzyka stopped five shots before making way for Alexander Laino, who finished the night for Sudbury. Laino stopped 15 of the 16 shots he faced in the loss.

Game two is set for Saturday night at McClelland Arena in Sudbury. The rest of the schedule is as follows:

• Game 3: April 2 at Soo 7:30 p.m.
• Game 4: April 3 at Sudbury 7:30 p.m.
• Game 5*: April 5 at Soo 7:30 p.m.
• Game 6*: April 8 at Sudbury 7:30 p.m.
• Game 7*: April 10 at Soo 7:30 p.m.

The other NOJHL semi-final doesn’t open until Saturday night in North Bay when the Trappers host the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners. The full schedule for that series is as follows:

• Game 1: March 30 at North Bay 7 p.m.
• Game 2: March 31 at North Bay 7 p.m.
• Game 3: April 5 at Kirkland Lake 7:30 p.m.
• Game 4: April 6 at Kirkland Lake 7:30 p.m.
• Game 5*: April 8 at North Bay 7 p.m.
• Game 6*: April 9 at Kirkland Lake 7:30 p.m.
• Game 7*: April 11 at North Bay 7 p.m.