Thunderbirds power play capitalizes

A second period 5-on-3 broke a 1-1 tie as the Soo Thunderbirds improved to 11-1 with a 7-1 victory over the Cochrane Crunch on Sunday.

The Thunderbirds capitalized on a two-man advantage in the second period with goals 29 seconds apart by Darian Pilon and Jaren Bellini to break the game open.

Cochrane took a pair of penalties at 4:21 of the middle period as Cochrane’s Zach Renfrew took a match penalty for slew-footing while Taylor Karr compounded the problem by taking an interference minor on the same play.

Pilon scored with 19 seconds left in the five-on-three and Bellini his sixth goal of the season to make the score 3-1 at the time.

Thunderbirds Coach Jordan Smith was unavailable for comment following the game.

Cochrane Coach Ryan Leonard called the penalties a difference-maker in the game.

“Our discipline finally caught up to us,” Leonard said. “Zach Renfrew took a penalty that should never happen in junior hockey. It cost us the hockey game.”

“(The play) was a situation where it wasn’t a game-breaker or anything like that,” Leonard added. “We’re in our third game in three days, we can’t afford to be taking five-minute majors on plays (like that).”

Brett Jeffries scored twice and set up another goal for the Thunderbirds while Andrew Barbeau added a goal and two assists. Mark Tassone also had a multi-point night with a goal and an assist for the Thunderbirds. Matthew Mitchell also scored for the Thunderbirds.

Thunderbirds goaltender Nathan Warren made 25 saves.

Tyler Minoletti scored the lone goal for Cochrane.

Brett Young got the start for Cochrane, stopping 19 of 24 shots through the opening two periods before being pulled from the game. Kurtis David started the third period for the Crunch but exited the game after giving up two goals on six shots and Young finished the final 16:39 of the contest, stopping 13 shots the rest of the way.

The game was a battle between the teams with the top records in the league as both teams held 10-1 records going in.

The win moves the Thunderbirds into sole possession of top spot in the NOJHL standings with 22 points.

The Thunderbirds return to action on Wednesday night on the road against the Blind River Beavers.

Next home action for the team is Oct. 21, also against Blind River.

One of two recent Thunderbirds acquisitions was in attendance at Sunday’s game as newly-acquired defenceman Aiden Salerno arrived in Sault Ste. Marie on Sunday afternoon.

Salerno was acquired by the Thunderbirds in a trade that with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks of the British Columbia Hockey League.

A native of Long Beach, NY, Salerno had one assists in eight games with Salmon Arm this season.

The soon-to-be 20-year-old spent the 2014-15 season with the Ontario Junior League’s Buffalo Jr. Sabres where he scored one goal and 14 points in 51 games along with 101 penalty minutes.

“Aiden is a physical, imposing defenceman who is going to be counted on to play heavy minutes,” Thunderbirds General Manager Jamie Henderson said in a prepared statement. “Aiden brings a lot of experience to the team and will be counted on to play against the league’s top players.”

The trade with Salmon Arm saw the Silverbacks acquire a player development fee and the rights to Nic Sicoly in the deal in exchange for Salerno

Sicoly is currently playing with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm.

In a separate deal, the Thunderbirds acquired the rights to forward Branden Wagner, also from Salmon Arm and also in exchange for a player development fee.

Wagner has not reported to the team.