Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
In the lone game of the evening in Massey, Ontario, the fourth place (17-8-2-1) Soo Thunderbirds took to the ice to face the fifth place (5-18-1-4) Elliot Lake Vikings in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League west division matchup on Wednesday, December 13th. The Thunderbirds were coming off of a 4 – 3 shootout win on December 10th in Sault Ste Marie over the Vikings.
At 6:36 of the second period, Thomas DeGagne picks up his own rebound off of Viking goaltender Sam Keene to slide the Soo’s first goal of the game under Keen’s blocker to give the Thunderbirds a 1 – 0 lead. Espen Escasa registered his first NOJHL career point with the lone assist on DeGagne’s sixth of the season. Scoring his second goal of the season for the Thunderbirds’, Lucas DiBerardino catches a cross crease pass from Easton Hall to lift the Soo’s second goal past Keene at 8:42 to bring the visitors lead to 2 – 1. Colton McIntosh added the other helper on DiBerardino’s goal. Nate Dugwell picks up a bouncing puck in front of Thunderbird netminder Maverick Fletcher’s crease to pull the Vikings within one 23 seconds before the midway mark of the second. Owen Kahl and Noah Aboflan notched the contributors on Dugwell’s third of the season.
Thunderbird forward Grayson Ebrahim picks up his own rebound at 14:04 of the second to backhand his 16th of the season over Keene’s blocker to give the Soo a 3 – 1 lead. Kaden Dundas and James Legler registered the assists on Ebrahim’s power play goal. Gabriel Manseau fires a snapshot from the centre of the Thunderbird blueline to be tipped by Viking forward Liam Bridgeman past Fletcher to pull Elliot Lake within two at 7:20 of the third. Sam Verbonac had the other helper on Bridgeman’s fourth of the season. The Soo’s Jame Legler lifts the Thunderbirds fourth over a sprawling Keene in front of the Vikings net to increase the visitors lead to 5 – 2 at the 7:42 mark of the period. Ebrahim drew the lone assist on Legler’s seventh of the season. Jacob Smith catches a pass from Legler for the Thunderbirds sixth of the game at 8:05 with Ebrahim adding the contributor on Smith’s seventeenth of the season. With the Soo shorthanded, Thunderbird forward Daniel Beaupre picks up a turnover in the Vikings zone over fire his eleventh of the season over a sprawling Keene at 14:07 of the third to give the Thunderbirds a 6 – 2 win. Elliot Lake goaltender Sam Keene stopped 38 of 44 shots in the Vikings nineteenth loss of the season while Soo netminder Maverick Fletcher turned away 27 of 29 shots in the Thunderbirds eighteenth win of the season and move the Soo into third in the west.
The Thunderbirds will now return home to host the west division second place Blind River Beavers on Friday, December 15th for a 7:00 p.m puck drop at the John Rhodes Centre in Sault Ste Marie.
