Thunderbirds maintain winning ways

Make it six straight for the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Soo Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds winning streak moved to six on Sunday afternoon thanks to a 7-2 win over the Espanola Express at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

Robert Calisti scored a pair of goals to pace the Thunderbirds offensively.

Brendan Miller, Noah Solinger, and Mark Tassone added a goal and an assist for the Thunderbirds. Steven Bellini and Camaryn Baber also had multi-point nights with two assists each.

Tanner Mayne and Tristan Cicchello also scored for the home team. 

Thunderbirds goaltender Eric Schuch stopped 19 shots.

Matthew Reynolds and Joel Grandbois scored for Espanola while goaltender Adam Scott made 30 saves.

The Thunderbirds, who took over top spot in the NOJHL’s West Division with a win over Blind River on the road on Saturday night, improve to 20-7-2-0. The team sits three points ahead of Blind River after the Beavers dropped a 4-2 decision on the road to the Rayside Balfour Canadians on Sunday night.

The Express fall to 1-27-1-0 and are winless in 17 straight games. Espanola’s lone win this season came at the league showcase in Sudbury, a 4-1 victory over the Timmins Rock on Oct. 11.

The Thunderbirds return to action on Dec. 7 in the opening game of a home-and-home set with the Rayside Balfour Canadians in Chelmsford. The teams then meet at the John Rhodes Community Centre the following night, which opens a four-game homestand for the Thunderbirds.