Thunderbirds drop shootout in Elliot Lake

A mid-week road trip turned into a disappointing result for the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Soo Thunderbirds on Wednesday night.

The Thunderbirds dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to the Elliot Lake Wildcats Wednesday at Centennial Arena in Elliot Lake.

Elliot Lake took a 1-0 lead late in the opening period thanks to a goal by Logan Gallagher with 1:24 to go in the frame.

The Wildcats outshot the Thunderbirds 26-8 in the opening period and by a 40-19 margin through two periods.

In period two, the Thunderbirds took the lead on goals by Kurtis Rogers and Tyler Savard just under four minutes apart, but Elliot Lake tied the game in the last stages of the period on a power play goal by Connor Taylor.

After a scoreless third period and overtime, the game went to a shootout where Roman Lamoureux scored the winner for the Wildcats.

Elliot Lake goaltender Jonathan Lemaire made 38 saves in the game, which included 19 in the third period, and then five of the six Thunderbirds shooters in the shootout.

Goaltender Sam Evola made 47 saves for the Thunderbirds in the game.

Wednesday’s result drops the Thunderbirds record to 29-17-2-4 while Elliot Lake improves to 7-43-3-0.

The Thunderbirds return to action on Saturday night at home against the Soo (Mich.) Eagles. Puck drop at the John Rhodes Community Centre is set for 7 p.m.