Smith leads Thunderbirds to win

Some success at the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League showcase earlier this week has carried on for the Soo Thunderbirds.

The team extended its winning streak to three games on Friday night with a 4-3 win over the Cochrane Crunch at the Soo Pee Wee Arena.

A hat trick by veteran forward Nick Smith led the way for the Thunderbirds.

Cochrane opened the scoring as Jacob Seyers beat Thunderbird goaltender Dakota Meyer glove side from the slot in the opening period.

The locals took the lead in the second period as Smith scored a pair of shorthanded goals on the same Thunderbirds penalty to give the Sault a 2-1 lead.

The goals came shortly after the team killed off a Cochrane 5-on-3. With Smith already in the box, Nicholas Grandy of Cochrane hit a Thunderbirds player along the side boards and Tristan Cicchello jumped in.

When the dust settled, Grandy was given a charging minor and Cicchello was given an aggressor, instigator and fighting major on the play. The calls left Cochrane with another seven minutes of power play time.

Smith scored both goals in the late stages of the penalties to give the Sault the lead.

Jacob Kovacs added to the Thunderbirds lead with a goal late in the second period, sending the game into the intermission with the Thunderbirds leading 3-1.

Smith then made it 4-1 in the opening minute of the third.

Grandy made the game close with a pair of goals in the final frame.

Meyer made 34 saves for the Thunderbirds.

Cochrane netminder Cody Levesque made 30 saves.

The win improves the Thunderbirds record to 7-7-1-2 heading into action on Sunday on the road against the Rayside-Balfour Canadians.

Cochrane falls to 6-8-0-1.