Thunderbirds victorious

Thanks to five unanswered goals, the Soo Thunderbirds lead the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s West Division final.

The Thunderbirds fell behind 2-0 before scoring five goals, including four goals in the third period, to beat the Elliot Lake Wildcats 5-2, taking a 1-0 series lead in the process.

The Wildcats opened the scoring with goals 1:22 apart midway through the opening period thanks to goals by Aaron Carmichael and Kyle Salmon.

“We got down early but credit has to go to our guys for hanging in there and sticking with the plan,” said Thunderbirds Coach Jordan Smith. “That’s what we did for 60 minutes and they were rewarded for it.”

Matt Pinder got the Thunderbirds on the board in the opening minute of the second period before the third-period outburst.

Boris Katchouk led the charge offensively for the Thunderbirds with a goal and two assists while Pinder scored twice. Anthony Miller had a goal and an assist while Owen Headrick also scored. Brett Jeffries assisted on a pair of goals for the Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds entered the series after an opening round sweep of the Blind River Beavers in which they outscored their opponent 41-1.

“The credit has to go to the players,” Smith said. “We knew that playing Blind River could create some bad habits. It is what it is. We challenged them in practice the past 10 days to work hard on each other and battle each other. That combined with maintaining your skating legs and physical stamina, they did a great job.”

Thunderbirds goaltender Brian Kment stopped 22 Elliot Lake shots.

Elliot Lake goaltender A.J. Smith stopped 37 shots.

“We got outworked bigtime,” said Elliot Lake Coach Nathan Hewitt. “It’s a case of dejavu. We saw it in our first series against Sudbury. We weren’t ready for the compete level in the first two games. When you’re playing the Soo, it’s a whole other level so we have to step it up that much more.”

After the Thunderbirds took a 3-2 lead midway through the final period, Hewitt said the Wildcats did manage to bounce back but the recovery wasn’t enough.

“After we went down 3-2 we started to play a little bit,” Hewitt said. “We showed a little bite more physicality, a little more speed on the forecheck. Just the little things that we’re looking for but we can’t wait until we’re down 3-2 to start coming back in games against these guys. By then it’s just too late.”

The series continues in Elliot Lake with game two set for Saturday night. Game three is set for Monday at the Essar Centre. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.

The East Division final between the Cochrane Crunch and Powassan Voodoos begins on Friday night in Cochrane