T-Birds fall to Northern Wolves

The Soo Thunderbirds got a taste of the steadily improving Sudbury Northern Wolves on Wednesday night.

Led by a two-goal effort from Jeff Christison, the Northern Wolves defeated the Thunderbirds 4-3 in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action in Copper Cliff.

The Thunderbirds nearly salvaged a point or two with some late game heroics. Trailing 4-1, the Thunderbirds scored twice in the final five minutes to close the gap to a goal with 2:05 remaining in regulation time.

The game was tied 1-1 after one period before Sudbury took a 3-1 lead after two periods.

Matt Dias, Matt Caria and Pat Keating scored for the Thunderbirds while Brendan Biederman and Matt Bortolotto also scored for Sudbury. Kyle Jokela recorded two assists for the Wolves.

Jesse Pischlar stopped 40 of 43 shots for the Northern Wolves while Matt Hache blacked 27 of 31 shots for the Soo.

The loss marked the second consecutive one-goal defeat for the locals while the Northern Wolves, who only scored one win in their first 15 games, have won two of their last three contests.

The Thunderbirds' record now stands at 6-6-1-1 for 14 points and a third place tie in the NOJHL's western division with the Northern Michigan Black Bears.

The locals will return to action on Sunday as the Rayside Balfour Sabrecats visit the John Rhodes Community Centre for a 2 p.m. start.

*** BLIND RIVER vs. NORTHERN MICHIGAN:

The Blind River Beavers continue to be the hottest team in the NOJHL by stretching their winning streak to five games on Wednesday night with a 3-2 win in St. Ignace over Northern Michigan.

Darren Rainville led the Beavers with two goals while Adam Combs added another. Matt Buha and Jacob Erway recorded two assists each. Kevin King kicked aside 27 of 29 shots for the win in goal.

Chris Kraft and Steve Kruszewski replied with goals for the Black Bears. Jordan Bowman assisted on both markers.

The Beavers improve to 8-5-1-1 for 18 points, one point behind the western division leading Manitoulin Wild.