Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
On Sunday, March 1st, the Soo Thunderbirds traveled east for an afternoon matinee showdown with the Blind River Beavers in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action.
The Thunderbirds wasted little time asserting themselves and never looked back, pouring in 11 goals in a dominant 11-3 road victory.
In the first, the Soo opened the scoring at 10:07 when Aiden Atkinson netted his 21st goal of the season, assisted by James Legler, to make it 1-0.
Just under two minutes later at 12:06, Jayden Arnold extended the lead with his seventh of the year, finishing a play set up by Wyatt Groth and Rhys Bonvie.
Blind River responded at 14:03 when Armando Rojo Bolton scored his 10th of the season, assisted by Caleb Walker, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
The Thunderbirds answered quickly. At 14:43, Jaden van de Ven restored the two-goal advantage with his third of the campaign, assisted by Drew Christian and Gavin Killoran, sending the Soo into the intermission up 3-1.
Midway through the second, the Thunderbirds added to their lead. At 12:10, James Legler buried his 20th of the season, assisted by Gianmarco Mastroianni and Deven Jones-McDonald, making it 4-1.
The Beavers struck back at 14:47 as Ryder Hill tallied his 21st of the season, with assists from Samuel Gravel and Camden Cowan, cutting the lead to 4-2.
The Soo quickly regained momentum. At 16:34, Owen Murphy scored his fifth of the year off feeds from Drew Christian and Rhys Bonvie.
Then at 18:26, Wyatt Groth recorded his 10th of the season, assisted by Landon Hill and Declan Gallivan, giving the Thunderbirds a commanding 6-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Blind River opened the third with a shorthanded goal at 0:55, as Ethan McLean scored his seventh of the season, assisted by Ryder Hill, making it 6-3.
The Thunderbirds responded in emphatic fashion.
At 3:25, Deven Jones-McDonald scored his 22nd of the season on the power play, assisted by James Legler and Owen Murphy, pushing the lead to 7-3.
Another power-play goal followed at 6:49 when Declan Gallivan netted his first of the season, with helpers from Aiden Atkinson and James Legler.
At 8:17, Wyatt Groth scored his second of the game and 11th of the season, assisted by Landon Hill and Jayden Arnold, extending the margin to 9-3.
The offensive surge continued at 13:35 when Vincent Bondy recorded his fourth of the year, assisted by Jaden van de Ven and Jaxon Turnbull.
The scoring wrapped up at 18:22 as Jaxon Turnbull added his fifth of the season on the power play, assisted by Owen Murphy, sealing the 11-3 final.
In net, the Thunderbirds goaltender turned aside 31 of 34 shots to earn his seventh win of the season while Blind River’s netminder faced heavy pressure throughout the contest, stopping 46 of 57 shots in the loss.
The Thunderbirds remain on the road for a Thursday, March 5th matchup in Sudbury against the first-place Greater Sudbury Cubs, with puck drop scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Beavers will look to rebound on Saturday, March 7th when they host the Hearst Lumberjacks for a 7:00 p.m. start.
