Solid goaltending helps Thunderbirds to win at home

A strong goaltending performance late and a three-goal second period turned into the difference for the Soo Thunderbirds on Thursday night.

A 41-save performance from Alex Bugeja helped the Thunderbirds to a 4-2 win over the Blind River Beavers Thursday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action.

Bugeja’s play in the opening two games of the seven-game set with the Beavers this month has earned the praise of his coach.

“In the first game, he challenged me as a coach that he played so well I had to put him back in,” Thunderbirds coach Denny Lambert said. “Tonight, he played even better. He’s a big reason why we won tonight. There were a lot of opportunities where we had breakdowns and he came up big for us.”

Bugeja made 37 saves in the series opener on Sunday.

Offensively for the Thunderbirds on Thursday, Cooper Smyl had a pair of goals, including a shorthanded marker in the second period that was ultimately the game winner.

Moments after a faceoff win in the defensive zone, Thunderbirds forward Noah Boman won a footrace too a loose puck at the other end of the ice.

The veteran forward cut around the Beavers goal and slide a cross-crease pass to Smyl, who redirected it pas Blind River goaltender Wyatt Courchaine just under eight minutes into the middle period to give the Thunderbirds a 3-0 lead at the time.

“He’s been unbelievable,” Lambert said of Smyl, adding that the 18-year-old has “been the force driving the offence.”

“He’s been outstanding all year long and he’s been getting better and better in all areas of the game too,” Lambert added.

Smyl has 12 goals in his last eight games and 15 in 16 games overall this season.

After posting four points in the series opener, Thunderbirds defenceman Cam Dutkiewicz added a goal and an assist in Thursday’s victory.

Andrew Malek had the other goal for the Thunderbirds while Kurtis Rogers assisted on a pair of goals in the contest.

Trailing 4-0, the Beavers made the game close in the third with a pair of power play goals 1:14 apart midway through the frame.

“For the first and second (periods), we played really well at both ends of the ice,” Lambert said. “We created stuff offensively and defensively we were good. In the third period, we let off the gas pedal and sat back and watched them and they came at us. We got the edge back later on (in the period), but by that time they had a couple power plays and a couple chances to score and put us on our heels a bit.”

Jacob Kelly and Thomas Michaud had the Beavers goals while Courchaine made 35 saves.

The series will now shift to Blind River for a pair of games this weekend at the Blind River Community Centre.