Thunderbirds force sixth game in NOJHL final

After losing three straight games for the just the second time all season, and the first since mi-November, the Soo Thunderbirds have rebounded in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League championship series.

After falling behind 3-0 to the Hearst Lumberjacks, the Thunderbirds have won two straight and forced a sixth game in the best-of-7 league final following a 3-2 victory on Sunday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

The Thunderbirds opened the scoring early in Sunday’s contest as Brock Santa Maria went to the net and redirected a pass from Michael Chaffay past Lumberjacks goaltender Liam Oxner on the power play just 2:10 into the contest.

The locals would take a 2-0 lead in the second period with another power play marker.

Youssef Chaouachi was stopped initially in close by Oxner on a redirection but scored on the rebound to extend the Sault lead at 13:09 of the frame.

Then, with 2:22 to go in the period, rookie defenceman Andrew Gibson made it 3-0 when he beat Oxner with a shot from the right circle high short side.

The score would stay that way until the late stages of the third period.

With 6:16 to go in regulation, Zachary Demers got the Lumberjacks on the board as he took a turnover in the slot by Thunderbirds defenceman Mason Chitaroni and beat Noah Metivier 5-hole to make it 3-1.

Demers then cut the Sault lead to one with 1:20 to go in regulation when he took a back-door pass from Robbie Rutledge and beat Metivier.

Offensively for the Thunderbirds, Chaffay picked up a pair of assists in Sunday’s win while Metivier made 25 saves.

Oxner stopped 17 of 20 shots in two periods of work for Hearst. Matteo Gennaro played the third period for the Lumberjacks, stopping all 13 shots he faced.

With the Lumberjacks leading 3-2, the series shifts to Claude Larose Arena in Hearst for game six on Tuesday night. If necessary, game seven is scheduled for Thursday night in Sault Ste. Marie.