Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
Coming off a 5 – 2 win on Friday, March 2nd over their cross border rivals, the Soo Eagles at the John Rhodes Centre, the third place (32-13-4-1) Soo Thunderbirds hit Highway 17 to take on the sixth place (5-41-1-4) Elliot Lake Vikings in Massey, Ontario at the Massey & District Arena in a Sunday, March 3rd afternoon matinee west division matchup.
With the Soo on a three on two, Jonathan Sonedecker sends a pass from the left board to Callum McAuley in front of the Vikings crease to slide the opening goal under Viking goaltender Sam Keene to give the Thunderbirds a 1 – 0 lead on McAuley’s 14th of the season at 14:59 of the first. From between the faceoff circles, Easton Hall fires a snapshot along the ice to find the back of Keene’s net through the Elliot Lake goaltender five hole to give the visitors a 2 – 0 lead. Thomas DeGagne sets up Hall’s fourth of the season 3:34 into the middle stanza. At 4:15 from just inside the left blueline, Thunderbird defenseman Kolby Fellinger rifles a slapshot through traffic to find the back of Elliot Lake’s net under Keene’s blocker to increase the lead to 3 – 0. Kaden Dundas drew the lone assist on Fellinger’s third of the season. From the top of the right faceoff circle, Soo blueliner Quinn Myles fires a wrist shot over Keene’s catcher to bring the lead to 4 – 0 at 11:41 of the second. Adam Kukko and Thomas DeGagne notched the contributors on Myles seventh of the season.
Thunderbird forward Thomas DeGagne breaks in on a breakaway to find the back of the Vikings net from between the faceoff circles for his 13th of the season at 13:32 with Harley Wardell adding the helper on DeGagne’s shorthanded goal. Scoring the Soo’s second straight shorthanded breakaway goal 16 seconds later, Kelsey Ouellet rifles a wrist shot into the right top corner of Elliot Lake’s net to give the Thunderbirds a 6 – 0 lead. Daniel Beaupre and Declan Gallivan registered the assists on Ouellet’s 18th of the season. At 14:52 of the second, Thunderbird veteran forward Sam Lake increases the lead to 7 – 0 with skating around a Viking defenseman to sink his 16th of the season over Elliot Lake goaltender Braydon Garnhart’s blocker. Kaden Dundas and Kolby Fellinger set up Lake’s 16th of the season. Receiving a pass from Daniel Beaupre in the right faceoff circle, Kelsey scores his second of the game at 16:29 of the period to give the Thunderbirds a 8 – 0 lead. Jacob Smith added the other contributor on Ouellet’s goal.
With 1:41 remaining in the second, Easton Hall picks up a Connor Stoke rebound off of Garnhart to find the back of the Vikings net for his fifth of the season, Thomas DeGagne draws the other helper on Hall’s goal. From right off the right faceoff circle dot on the faceoff, Anthony Bertrand fires a wrist shot over Thunderbird netminder Maverick Fletcher’s blocker to break the Soo netminder’s bid for a shutout at 10:39 of the third. Owen Kahl notched the lone contributor on Bertrand’s seventh of the season. Scoring his first of the season in a Thunderbird jersey, Soo forward Silas Crawford lifts the tenth goal into the back of the Vikings net over a sprawled Garnhart out of his crease to bring the lead to 10 – 1 of the visitors. Kaden Dundas and Declan Gallivan had the assists on Crawford’s goal at 12:56. Veteran defenseman Kaden Dundas fired a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle at 19:31 of the third for his ninth of the season. Declan Gallivan and Easton Hall drew the assist on Dundas’ powerplay goal. Viking goaltenders Sam Keene and Brayden Garnhart combined to stop 40 of 51 shots in their loss while Thunderbird netminder Maverick Fletcher turned away 22 of 23 shots in the Soo’s sixth straight win.
Next opponent for the Soo Thunderbirds will be the Elliot Lake Vikings on Tuesday, March 5th in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario at the John Rhodes Centre for a 7:00 p.m puck drop.
Listen on-demand to the Vikings versus Thunderbirds on TruHous Sports Radio.
