Thunderbirds pelt Beavers to pull even in standings

In a first round Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League playoff preview, the Soo Thunderbirds skated to a 4-1 win over the Blind River Beavers on Wednesday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

The victory pulled the Thunderbirds into a second place tie with the Beavers in the western division as the teams battle for home ice advantage in the first round series between the two clubs.

The 25-17-2-3 Thunderbirds and the 26-18-2-1 Beavers each have 55 points and one game remaining the regular season.

Should the teams remain tied in points at the end of the regular season, Blind River will be awarded second place and home ice advantage based on league tie-breaking procedures.

The Thunderbirds will host the eastern division champion North Bay Skyhawks on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Rhodes while the Beavers host the west division champion Northern Michigan Black Bears on Saturday night.

After Wednesday's contest, the Thunderbirds were pleased with a solid effort leading to a win while the Beavers were left shaking their heads.

With the teams playing a tight checking game while even strength, the Thunderbirds took advantage of their special teams play and capitalized on their chances to lead them to a win.

Chris Towell put the Thunderbirds ahead 1-0 late in the first period by banging his own rebound past Beavers goaltender Kevin King.

Towell then put the home side ahead 2-0 in the second period by again knocking home his own rebound on the power play. Defenseman Justin Shelleby then scored his 10th goal of the year with a shot over the shoulder of King on the power play for a 3-0 lead.

Towell, who was having a solid game, was ejected midway through the second period after an altercation with Blind River's Art Clark. Towell was assessed a minor for head checking, a 10 minute misconduct, a fighting major, an instigating minor and a game misconduct.

The Beavers came out with more jump in the third period and Darren Rainville snuck a shot past goaltender Michael Maulucci on the short side to pull Blind River back into the contest.

But Ryan Maunu sealed the Thunderbirds win with another power play goal with 3:37 remaining. Maunu added three assists for a four point night while Kyle Jones set up a pair.

"We only had 16 skaters and I had to move defenseman Joey Thorburn up to the wing and Matt Caria was doubtful up to game time with the flu but he sucked it up and played," said Thunderbirds head coach Toots Kovacs.

"(Towell) played a hard game. He chipped his tooth earlier in the game on a high stick and he was a warrior out there tonight. The whole team played so hard tonight, I'm so proud of them and I love them like my sons."

The Beavers outshot the Thunderbirds 35-24.

"We had one team out there and a bunch of individuals," said Beavers head coach Jim Capy. "We didn't put in the effort required to win a hockey game. What I see is a quick series if we don't change the way we're playing. We haven't shown we can beat anybody in the playoffs.

"We're kind of a funny team. We're talented but we just don't work hard all the time. In the playoffs, if you don't work hard it's a short season. We need to do some soul searching if we want to move past the Thunderbirds."

Both teams played with key players out of the lineup as Jacob Lalonde was scratched from the Thunderbirds lineup to rest and heal a nagging rib injury. Kovacs expects Lalonde to sit out once again on Saturday.

Pat Keating was also absent as the gritty forward returned home to take care of personal business while Matt Caria played despite suffering from the flu and Derek MacKay, who travels in for games from the Detroit area, did not arrive until midway through the second period.

For Blind River, Adam Combs and Jason Wiley sat out the game to rest nagging injuries for the playoffs.

Meanwhile, defenseman Shaun Siemers made his return to the Beavers lineup and recorded an assist after missing 30 games this season due to a pair of separated shoulders, the latest requiring surgery.

Despite the advantage of an extra home playoff date by securing second spot in the division, both coaches are down playing the signifigance of home ice advantage.

"I don't think home ice is that big of an advantage one way or another. We just want to play hard until the end of the season," said Kovacs. "If we get second place, we'll take it and we'll play hard to get there but if we don't, we start down in Blind River. It really doesn't matter."

"It's more for bragging rights than anything," said Capy. "We finished second and you finished third. I don't think home ice will really mean much in the series."

(All photos courtesy of Jim Egan.)