Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
Coming off a 2-1 home victory over the Powassan Voodoos on February 21st, the fifth-place (27-14-2) Soo Thunderbirds returned to the ice at the John Rhodes Centre on Friday, February 27th for a cross-border clash against the seventh-place (21-22-1) Soo Eagles in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action.
The Eagles entered the contest fresh off a 7-3 road win over the Espanola Paper Kings on February 21st, while the Thunderbirds held a 4-2 regular season edge in the 2025-2026 series between the two rivals. By the final horn, the home side had strengthened that advantage in emphatic fashion with a commanding 9-2 victory.
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring at 7:12 of the first when Jayden Arnold netted his fifth goal of the season, finishing a setup from Wyatt Groth to make it 1-0.
Late in the frame, the Thunderbirds capitalized on the power play. At 19:03, Aiden Atkinson buried his 20th of the season with the man advantage, assisted by Declan Gallivan and James Legler, sending the home team into the intermission with a 2-0 lead.
The Thunderbirds wasted little time extending their lead in the middle frame. Just 1:28 into the second, Vincent Bondy recorded his third of the season, finishing a play set up by Aiden Atkinson and Deven Jones-McDonald to make it 3-0.
The Eagles responded midway through the period. At 5:38, Jacob Peterson scored his 11th of the campaign, assisted by Lucas Caulfield and Gabriel Clark, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Just 1:18 later at 6:56, Micah Seery struck for his ninth of the year, with helpers credited to Lucas Caulfield and Nolan Nemecek, pulling the Eagles within one at 3-2.
However, the Thunderbirds quickly regained control. At 9:44, Deven Jones-McDonald tallied his 21st of the season off a feed from James Legler to restore a two-goal cushion.
At 14:22, Drew Christian added his eighth of the season unassisted, sending the Thunderbirds into the second intermission firmly ahead 5-2.
During the third, the home side poured it on in the final frame.
At 1:09, Adam Pszeniczny scored his 17th of the season, assisted by Drew Christian, pushing the lead to 6-2.
Arnold notched his second of the night at 5:12 — his sixth of the season — again set up by Wyatt Groth, making it 7-2.
At 8:47, James Legler scored his 19th of the campaign unassisted to extend the margin to 8-2.
The Thunderbirds capped off the offensive outburst on the power play at 13:25 when Rhys Bonvie recorded his fourth of the season, with assists going to Deven Jones-McDonald and James Legler, sealing the 9-2 final.
Between the pipes, Thunderbirds netminder Cam Boville turned aside 31 of 33 shots to earn his ninth win of the season. For the Eagles, Dalton Hoornstra stopped 16 of 18 shots in the loss, which marked his fifth defeat of the year.
Up next for the Thunderbirds will travel to face the Blind River Beavers on March 1st in a 1:00 p.m afternoon matinee in Blind River while the Eagles take on the Hearst Lumberjacks in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan with a 7:30 p.m start.
