NOJHL playoff update

The Blind River Beavers and Sudbury Junior Wolves maintained home ice advantage while the North Bay Skyhawks took away that advantage from the Abitibi Eskimos as game one of the playoffs is in the books.

In the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League quarterfinal series openers, the Beavers held off the Soo Thunderbirds 4-3 on Tuesday while Sudbury sunk the Manitoulin Islanders 6-4 and the Skyhawks buried the Eskimos 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday night.

Blind River, Sudbury and North Bay all lead the best-of-seven series 1-0 with game two in all three series scheduled for Thursday night.

The regular season champion Soo Indians have received a first round bye.

In Blind River on Tuesday, the Beavers built a 4-0 lead before the Thunderbirds' three-goal rally in the third period fell short.

Jake Reid, Matt Conway and Brett Perlini scored for the Thunderbirds while Matt Bell, Jon Drake, Andre Gauvin and Jason Bird countered for the Beavers.

In Sudbury, the Wolves held leads of 3-0 and 4-1 before the Islanders tied the game 4-4 with under five minutes to play in regulation time. But former Soo Greyhound Scott Restoule potted the game winner with 2:57 remaining and added an empty net goal to lift Sudbury to the win.

In Iroquois Falls, Scott Faulkner notched the game winner for the Skyhawks in the first overtime period.

*** NOJHL PLAYOFFS:

QUARTERFINALS

1. SOO INDIANS - bye

4. BLIND RIVER vs. 5. SOO THUNDERBIRDS

(Blind River leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Mar. 13 - Blind River 4 Soo 3 Game 2 - Mar. 15 - Soo vs. Blind River Game 3 - Mar. 17 - Blind River vs. Soo Game 4 - Mar. 18 - Blind River vs. Soo * Game 5 - Mar. 20 - Soo vs. Blind River * Game 6 - Mar. 22 - Blind River vs. Soo * Game 7 - Mar. 23 - Soo vs. Blind River

2. SUDBURY vs. 7. MANITOULIN

(Sudbury leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Mar. 14 - Sudbury 6 Manitoulin 4 Game 2 - Mar. 15 - Sudbury vs. Manitoulin Game 3 - Mar. 17 - Manitoulin vs. Sudbury Game 4 - Mar. 18 - Sudbury vs. Manitoulin * Game 5 - Mar. 20 - Manitoulin vs. Sudbury * Game 6 - Mar. 21 - Sudbury vs. Manitoulin * Game 7 - Mar. 22 - Manitoulin vs. Sudbury

3. ABITIBI vs. 6. NORTH BAY

(North Bay leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Mar. 14 - North Bay 3 Abitibi 2 (OT) Game 2 - Mar. 15 - Abitibi vs. North Bay Game 3 - Mar. 17 - North Bay vs. Abitibi Game 4 - Mar. 18 - Abitibi vs. North Bay * Game 5 - Mar. 20 - North Bay vs. Abitibi * Game 6 - Mar. 21 - Abitibi vs. North Bay * Game 7 - Mar. 23 - North Bay vs. Abitibi

(* = if necessary)

*** THUNDERBIRDS GAME SUMMARY:

Soo Thunderbirds 3 at Blind River 4 Soo Thunderbirds Lineup: Shawn Bibeau, Matt Conway, Ben Davey, Brad Dicandia, Ryan Dube, Tyler Gendron, Mark Hoffman, Rob Johnson, Adam Kauppi, Dylan King, Dan Klever, Tyler Lannigan, Nick Minardi, Travis O Brien, Brett Perlini, Adam Pyymaki, Jake Reid, Kyle Rodgers, Dan Vernelli, Randy Wills Blind River Lineup: Matt Bell, Jason Bird, Shane Buckley, Tanner Burton, Jacob Chiblow, Adam Combs, Jon Drake, Alex Durinka, Josh Faulkner, Andre Gauvin, Jesse Gionette, Rob Higgins, Jeremy Hilliard, Matt Irving, Kenny Jackson, Brett LaValley, Tyler Liukkonen, Garrett Nystedt, Shawn Sirman, Tyler Stephens

First Period 1. BR: Matt Bell (Jeremy Hilliard, Tyler Stephens) 15:50 FG 2. BR: Jon Drake (Tanner Burton, ) 19:06

Penalties: Matt Conway SOO (SL) 2 min 03:37; Andre Gauvin BR (INT) 2 min 11:25; Kenny Jackson BR (HO) 2 min 16:35;

Second Period 3. BR: Andre Gauvin (Unassisted) 07:01 4. BR: Jason Bird (Rob Higgins, Tyler Stephens) 08:13 GW

Penalties: Brad Dicandia SOO (USC) 2 min 03:32; Andre Gauvin BR (USC) 2 min 03:32; Kenny Jackson BR (TR) 2 min 05:43; Matt Conway SOO (TR) 2 min 05:52; Matt Bell BR (HO) 2 min 11:49; Brad Dicandia SOO (INT) 2 min 14:13; Dan Klever SOO (CC) 2 min 15:14; Adam Pyymaki SOO (SL) 2 min 15:56; Matt Irving BR (HKG) 2 min 16:46; Jon Drake BR (HO) 2 min 17:34;

Third Period 5. SOO: Jake Reid (Adam Pyymaki, Matt Conway) 04:57 SH 6. SOO: Matt Conway (Tyler Gendron, Brett Perlini) 07:33 7. SOO: Brett Perlini (Dylan King, ) 15:08

Penalties: Ben Davey SOO (HKG) 2 min 04:33; Dylan King SOO (BDG) 2 min 06:30; Matt Irving BR (SL) 2 min 07:15; Jesse Gionette BR (M22) 0 min 09:29; Jesse Gionette BR (RO) 2 min 09:29; Jesse Gionette BR (BDG) 2 min 09:29; Rob Johnson SOO (M22) 0 min 09:29; Rob Johnson SOO (RO) 2 min 09:29; Rob Johnson SOO (RO) 2 min 09:29; Brett LaValley BR (HKG) 2 min 17:36;

Shots on Goal Soo Thunderbirds 8 8 21 - 37 Blind River 10 10 3 - 23 Goaltenders Shawn Sirman (BR) - W Ryan Dube (SOO) - None Travis O Brien (SOO) - L Game Stars 1. Shawn Sirman (BR) 2. Brett Perlini (SOO) 3. Andre Gauvin (BR) Game Attendance 343 *** MANITOULIN vs. SUDBURY

Manitoulin 4 at Sudbury 6 First Period 1. SBY: Brenden Biedermann (Mike Mills, Jesse Graham) 00:33 FG 2. SBY: Jesse Graham (Jacob Johnston, Scott Restoule) 14:01 PP 3. SBY: Jessie Howg (Mike Mills, Darren Rowlandson) 18:46 SH

Second Period 4. MAN: Carlo Metatawabin (Anthony Fey, Corey Metatawabin) 03:05 PP 5. SBY: Scott Restoule (Scott Lavigne, Jesse Graham) 04:18 PP 6. MAN: Kyle Sigouin (Corey Metatawabin, Stephen Bunston) 06:24

Third Period 7. MAN: Kyle Gagnon (Unassisted) 04:05 8. MAN: Shane Innes (Carlo Metatawabin, Corey Metatawabin) 15:31 PP 9. SBY: Scott Restoule (Jordan Cheechoo, Chris Kangas) 17:03 GW 10. SBY: Scott Restoule (Brenden Biedermann, Mike Mills) 19:31 EN

Goaltenders Billy Stone (MAN) - L Darren Rowlandson (SBY) - W *** NORTH BAY vs. ABITIBI

North Bay 3 at Abitibi 2 First Period 1. AB: Tyler Derrick (Dan Dube, ) 00:30 2. NB: Brad Hummel (Josh Diamond, Bryan Albert) 16:55 FG

Second Period 3. NB: Kody Carnevale (Unassisted) 18:48

Third Period 4. AB: Dan Dube (Cody Fox, Matt Brunet) 12:39

OT Period 5. NB: Scott Faulkner (Unassisted) 09:40 GW

Goaltenders Miles Williams (AB) - L Ian Wilson (NB) - W ***