Photos: Helene Rancourt
BLIND RIVER, Ont. – The Blind River Beavers saw Joshua Thompson tally twice, as part of a 5-2 home ice triumph over the Soo Eagles Sunday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League matinee at the Blind River Community Centre.
Pressing the play deep in Sault Ste. Marie territory late in the first period, the Beavers got on the board when Andrey Manov blasted a shot from the left point that flew past a screened Reid Ramsay.
Blind River then went up by a pair early in the second stanza with Evan Fraccaro notching his 15th of the season as he finished off a solid move to the net by Trevor Zimmer.
Sault Ste. Marie got that back a couple of shifts later when Teig Driessen found himself free and went in all alone on a breakaway then provided a crafty deke to his right prior to sliding the puck into the open corner on netminder Gavin Disano.
The home side regrouped and took a 3-1 cushion into the intermission thanks to Thompson, who was left with a tap-in at 9:01.
Ramsay left the contest after that, following a post-goal collision with a Beavers’ player, and gave way to back-up Logan Raffaele.
Third period play saw the Eagles strike on the power play with 7:50 remaining in regulation as defenceman Colin Handy blasted a shot by Disano from the top of the right circle.
Blind River picked up some insurance later during a two-man advantage when Ethan Pegg sent a one-timer by Raffaele with under six minutes to play.
They then put the game away in the late going when Campbell put one into an empty net to secure the win.
The outcomes sees the Beavers move to 28-10-2-2 on the year while the Eagles dropped to 17-19-3-1 overall.