Thunderbirds work overtime in Blind River

Despite the distance between the two teams in the standings, the Blind River Beavers have given the Soo Thunderbirds all they can handle this season.

In game two of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League Western Division semi-final series, the Thunderbirds needed 10:39 of overtime to edge the Beavers 3-2 and grab a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

After a scoreless first period, Drew Jarrett opened the scoring for the Beavers 51 seconds into the second period before Tom Vernelli quickly tied the game for the Thunderbirds on the power play 2:03 later.

Billy Schill put Blind River ahead 2-1 with a goal at the 9:03 mark.

With time winding down in regulation time, Jason Weigel scored with 3:07 remaining to send the game into overtime and setup Alex Butkus' game winning goal.

D.J. Jelitto recorded two assists for the Thunderbirds and was named the game's third star while Butkus, who added an assist, was given the nod as first star.

Jarrett Michaels recorded the win in net for the Thunderbirds and stopped 29 of 31 Blind River shots. Brock Lees, the game's second star, was solid in net for Blind River stopping 42 of 45 shots.

The series will shift back to Sault Ste. Marie for game three on Tuesday night at Memorial Gardens beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Game four will be played Wednesday night in Blind River at 7:30 p.m.

In other NOJHL action on Saturday night, the Northern Michigan Black Bears grabbed a 3-0 series lead on the Manitoulin Wild with a 2-0 win in Little Current.

Ryan Behnke led the Bears with two goals while Russell Law, Jake Cole, Jordan Bowman and Michael Herbert added one each. Brent Assinewei scored twice on the power play while Kyle Mason added another for the Wild.

The Abitibi Eskimos evened their Eastern Division series with the Sudbury Northern Wolves at 1-1 after a 6-3 win in Iroquois Falls.

Matt Tremblay, Matt Brunet, Kurtis Camirand, Adam Chicorski, Yves Bernard and Kevin Kozlowski scored once each for the Eskimos while Jeff Christison, Kyle Doherty and Kyle Hope replied for Sudbury.