NOJHL leaders win again

After an opening period that was tight, at least from a numbers standpoint, the Soo Thunderbirds put their foot on the gas pedal and cruised to victory in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action on Wednesday.

After taking a 2-0 lead through one period, in which they outshot their short-staffed opponents by a 13-9 margin, the Thunderbirds would score eight times in the final 40 minutes to beat the Blind River Beavers 10-0 in Blind River Wednesday night.

The Thunderbirds would outshoot the Beavers 49-11 over the final two periods and 62-20 overall in the contest.

Goaltender Mario Culina picked up the shutout for the Thunderbirds.

Offensively, Jaren Bellini had three goals and three assists to pace the Thunderbirds. Soo Greyhounds prospect Boris Katchouk chipped in with a goal and four assists. Brett Jeffries had a pair of goals for the Thunderbirds. Caleb Boman had a three-point night with a goal and two helpers while Nic Sicoly, Connor Dea and Owen Headrick also scored.

Braddock Baalerud got the start in goal for Blind River, stopping 32 of 38 shots in just over 37 minutes of action. Zach Mills came in and stopped 20 of 24 shots the rest of the way.

The Thunderbirds record now sits at 36-6-1-5 while Blind River remains winless at 0-47-0-1. The Beavers lone point came by way of a double-overtime loss to the Thunderbirds on Oct. 8.

The Thunderbirds return to action on Saturday night when they host the Sudbury Nickel Barons at the John Rhodes Community Centre in a 7:30 p.m. start.

In other action around the NOJHL on Wednesday night, Kevin Labelle made 36 saves in a penalty-filled contest that saw the Nickel Barons pick up a 3-1 victory over the Cochrane Crunch. Ryan Theriault, Jackson Gunner and Yanic Hebert scored for Sudbury while Joseph Marvin had the lone goal for Cochrane.