Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
Fresh off a dominant 11–2 victory over the French River Rapids on Friday, March 6th, the Soo Thunderbirds were back on home ice Sunday, March 8th at the John Rhodes Community Centre as they hosted the Hearst Lumberjacks in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action.
The Thunderbirds came out with energy in the opening period and were the first to get on the scoreboard.
At 5:28 of the first period, Deven Jones-McDonald netted his 23rd goal of the season to give the Soo a 1–0 lead. The goal came with assists from Aiden Atkinson and Adam Pszeniczny, who picked up his 15th assist of the season on the play.
Hearst responded later in the frame to even the game.
At 13:47, Luc Warner scored his 17th goal of the season to tie the game 1–1, finishing a play set up by Chase Thompson.
The Lumberjacks carried that momentum into the second period and took their first lead of the game on the power play.
At 12:14 of the second period, Chase Thompson buried his 25th goal of the season with the man advantage to give Hearst a 2–1 lead. Mathieu Comeau earned the assist on the power-play marker.
Hearst added another late in the period to extend their advantage.
With 1:30 remaining in the second period (18:30), Mathieu Comeau scored his 29th goal of the season, finishing a play created by Nathan Seed to make it 3–1 Lumberjacks heading into the final period.
The Thunderbirds pushed back early in the third.
Just 1:37 into the period, Landon Hill cut the deficit to 3–2 with his 16th goal of the season, an unassisted effort that gave the Soo life and brought the home crowd back into the game.
Despite outshooting Hearst heavily and pressing for the equalizer throughout the remainder of the third period, the Thunderbirds were unable to solve Lumberjacks goaltender Jack Helkie again.
Helkie turned aside 46 of 48 shots to earn the win for Hearst, while Cam Boville made 26 saves on 29 shots in the loss for the Thunderbirds.
Check out Freeze Frame Photos by Bob Davies photo gallery of the Soo Thunderbirds versus Hearst Lumberjacks in NOJHL action
The Thunderbirds will now prepare for a highly anticipated matchup against their cross-border rivals, the Soo Eagles, on Saturday, March 14th with a 7:00 p.m. puck drop at the John Rhodes Community Centre. Meanwhile, the Lumberjacks will return to the road on Friday, March 13th, when they travel to Powassan to take on the Voodoos in a 7:00 p.m. start.
