SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – Soo Thunderbirds forward Matthew Bazarin tallied three times and added a pair of assists to play a part in all of the Soo Thunderbirds goals Saturday in a 5-3 triumph over the Soo Eagles in a penalty-filled Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair at John Rhodes Community Centre.
After edging the Eagles in overtime on the road Friday, the Thunderbirds saw Bazarin tally twice, via the man advantage, in a chippy first period as the hosts took a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
Answering back, the visitors got on the board early in the middle session as Nathan Solis scored on the power play at 2:59 to make it a one-goal game.
The Eagles draw level midway through the stanza as Solis struck again with the sides skating four-on-four.
The Thunderbirds countered with a man advantage effort before the period was complete with Noah Boman knocking in his 24th at 15:54.
Moving to the third, they added another early on as Lucas Theriault buried his league-leading 36th.
Getting that back for the guests at 7:27 was Dominic Skrelja only to see Bazarin finish off his first three-goal game in the NOJHL a couple shifts later to round out the scoring.
Theriault and Boman also had big night for the winners as they added four and three assists respectively to go with their goals.
William Anderson made 30 saves to record the win while Joseph Benedetto faced 20 attempts in defeat.
Game Photos courtesy of Rod Aubertin – SSM Photos