The first place west division leaders, the (15-4-1-3) Soo Thunderbirds took to the road to face the fifth place (7-13-2) Espanola Express in Espanola on Friday, December 3rd in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League west division clash. The Express were looking for their first win since October 23rd against the Elliot Lake Red Wings at home.

With the Soo on a powerplay 5:43 into the second period, Thunderbird Tyson Doucette fires his 12th of the season from the left faceoff circle behind Express goaltender Patrick Boivin to give the visitors a 1 – 0 lead. Youssef Choauchi and Brock Santa Maria drew the assists on Doucette’s goal. All alone in front of Boivin’s net, Dharan Cap sinks his first in a Thunderbird jersey with a backhand into the Express net to bring the lead to 2 – 0. Doucette and Zane Burleigh notched the helpers on Cap’s powerplay goal at 12:02 of the middle stanza. With 7:52 remaining in the game, Doucette catches a cross ice pass from Alfred Rotiroti to secure a Soo 3 – 0 win in Espanola. Chaouachi drew the other contributor on Doucette’s second powerplay of the contest. Express goaltender Patrick Boivin stopped 36 of 39 shots in Espanola’s 11th straight loss while Nolan Charthand earned a shutout between the pipes for the Thunderbirds and turning away 17 of 17 shots.

With coach Jarrett not behind the Thunderbird bench and Jamie Henderson guiding the Soo to their 16th win of the season, Henderson told Saultsports that “We know this team always plays us tough they work hard but I thought our guys responded pretty well. Our special teams were great tonight and when we had a breakdown Nolan Chartrand was outstanding making some big saves.”

The Thunderbirds now head across the St Mary’s River on December 4th to face their cross border rivals, the Soo Eagles who sit five points back in second in the west division behind the Thunderbirds. Puck drop will be at 7:00 p.m at Pullar Stadium.