Thunderbirds win tight on road

The opening weekend of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League regular season was a successful one for the Soo Thunderbirds.

After winning a high-scoring affair on Friday night over the Soo (Mich.) Eagles at home on Friday night, the Thunderbirds skated to a 3-2 win over the Rayside Balfour Canadians at Chelmsford Arena.

Nick Smith’s goal just under five minutes into the third period was the game-winner.

After a turnover in the Rayside zone, Smith took a pass in the slot from Nolan Ford and got in behind the Canadians defenceman before beating goaltender Jean-Marc Brisson to give the Thunderbirds a 3-1 lead at the time.

Kaidan McDonald and Avery Rebek also scored for the Thunderbirds.

Making his first start of the season, William Anderson made 29 saves for the Thunderbirds.

Brandon Atkins and Giordano Biondi scored for the Canadians, who fall to 0-2-0-0 with the loss. 

Brisson made 40 saves for Rayside Balfour, including 31 over the final 40 minutes.

The Thunderbirds, 2-0-0-0 on the young season, return to action on Sept. 16 at home against the Elliot Lake Wildcats. Puck drop at the John Rhodes Community Centre is set for 7 p.m.

In other action over the weekend, Sault native Justin Mauro had a pair of goals on Saturday night as Blind River beat Espanola 8-1. Garrett Boyonoski stopped 27 shots.

After scoring three times in his NOJHL debut on Friday night, Sault product David Campbell set up two goals as Powassan beat Kirkland Lake 6-4 on Saturday.