Thunderbirds drop regular season finale (4 photos)

The Soo Thunderbirds saw their Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League regular season come to an end on a two-game losing streak.

On Wednesday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre, the Thunderbirds fell 4-1 to the Northern Michigan Black Bears, a win that kept the Michigan Sault's club alive in their bid to claim third place in the standings.

The Thunderbirds, who clinched second place with a win in Iroquois Falls against Abitibi on Saturday, will now face seventh place Manitoulin in the first round of the playoffs.

The series will see games one and two take place at the Rhodes on Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Following the 5-4 win over Abitibi, the Thunderbirds took a 7-1 beating from the Blind River Beavers on Sunday.

Ryan Maunu opened the scoring for the Thunderbirds in the first period but the Black Bears battled back to tie the score later in the frame before taking a 3-1 lead in the second period.

Chase Stevens, Sean Farley, Ryan Murtaugh and Sean Reid scored for Northern Michigan while Tony Stoehr stopped 26 of 27 shots in goal for the win. Soo Greyhounds prospect Anthony Perdicaro recorded a pair of assists.

Michael Maulucci faced 32 shots on goal in the loss.

(Photos courtesy of Jim Egan)