Thunderbirds tame Northern Wolves

Two days after dropping a 2-1 decision at the hands of the Blind River Beavers, the Soo Thunderbirds had the chance to erase that memory and get back into top spot in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League's West Division.

All that had to be done was gain a win over the NOJHL's top team in the Sudbury Northern Wolves and the Thunderbirds did just that by knocking off the visitors 6-3 Friday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

The Thunderbirds caught a break to open the scoring as defenseman Ryan MacKay released a point shot that Sudbury netminder Ethan Gazdic attempted to catch only to have the puck go off his glove and into the net. The goal, scored at 7:43, got the ball rolling for the Thunderbirds.

In the second period, Tom Vernelli gave the Thunderbirds a 2-0 lead when he beat Gazdic after converting a feed from linemate D.J. Jelitto at 2:18. The Northern Wolves wasted little time in cutting into the lead as Randy Battochio scored 24 second after Vernelli to make the score 2-1.

The Thunderbirds then reeled off three unanswered goals in the period to take a 5-1 lead as Mike McMillan scored on a breakaway, as did Matt Dias not long after. Eric Sargent, recently added to the Thunderbirds roster from the Toledo IceDiggers of the North American Hockey League, capped off the Soo scoring in the period with his first of the season.

The Northern Wolves made an effort to get back into the game early on in the third period as Brian McGarry scored ten second into the period to cut the Soo lead to 5-2.

Midway through the period though, the Thunderbirds got an insurance goal as a point shot from Kyle Jones beat Paul Pidutti, who came into the game after the Dias goal at 13:14 of the second period.

Dan Bourgois cut the lead to 6-3 with a shorthanded marker late in the period but it was too little, too late as the Thunderbirds held on for the victory.

Soo netminder Jarrett Michaels stopped 26 shots in the win while Pidutti and Gazdic combined to stop 34 Soo shots in the loss.

Thunderbirds head coach Jim Capy was pleased with his team's effort and how they were able to bounce back after Wednesday night's loss to Blind River.

"I think we were a little more focused tonight," Capy said. "I always say coming to the rink with a little bit of fear is a good thing. We had guys here at five o'clock tonight. It was a pretty good team effort."

Capy was also happy with his team's ability to spread the offence around against Sudbury as six different Thunderbird players scored goals. Without scorers like former Thunderbirds Jeff Rainville, Joey Coccimiglio, David Borelli and Ryan Corcoran, the offence needs to be spread out.

Also, despite a two strange goals, Capy was also happy with the play of goaltender Jarrett Michaels.

"We don't have a Rainville or Coccimiglio now, or a Borelli and Corcoran," Capy said. "We've got a little more balance and everyone chips in. We're pleased with our goaltending situation," Capy said of having Michaels and Casey Mapes between the pipes.

"Our goaltending situation now is better than it was at the beginning of the season. There were two strange goals but we got that big third goal that changed things a bit. (Michaels) made some saves at key times. (Mapes and Michaels) didn't play much with the teams they came from so they need time."

Capy also added that the coaching staff stressed the forecheck before the game and the plan work well as the top line of Jelitto, Vernelli, and Alex Butkus were in the face of the Sudbury defense all night and were rewarded with some quality scoring chances.

The Thunderbirds now prepare to face the Rayside Balfour Sabrecats in Chelmsford on Sunday before returning to play their next game at home against the Abitibi Eskimos. The game, scheduled for January 24th, will be played at the Pee Wee Arena.