Photo: Bob Davies
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – The Soo Thunderbirds saw Dharan Cap tally twice, including picking up the game-winner, as part of a 6-2 win over the Greater Sudbury Cubs Friday in a chippy Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League affair at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
Sault Ste. Marie was quick to strike in the contest after a nice bank pass off the boards out of their own zone helped Cooper Foster to convert 39 seconds in.
It was more Thunderbirds three minutes later with Russell Oldham finishing off a quick give-and-go with Kyle Trottier as he zipped a shot over the pad of Cubs goalkeeper Jake Marois.
On the power play to begin the middle stanza, Greater Sudbury cut into the deficit as Josh Boucher pulled a loose puck back in the slot and proceeded to fire it past Soo netminder Noah Zeppa, 25 seconds in.
Regaining their two-goal cushion just over seven minutes later, Cap finished off a succession of Soo chances to put the hosts back up by a pair.
Putting the game away in the third with back-to-back man advantage efforts, the Thunderbirds’ Andrew Gibson began the outburst by wiring one in from between the hash marks.
Kelsey Ouellet then tacked on another a couple of shifts later by whipping in his eighth of the year from nearly the same spot as Gibson’s effort.
After Kyler Campbell brought the visitors a bit closer at 15:06 with his team-leading 23rd, the Soo’s Cap wrapped things up with his second of the evening, off a goal-mouth scramble.
Zeppa picked up the win for the Thunderbirds as the NOJHL West Division leaders improved to 20-4-2-3 on the season.
Marois meanwhile suffered the defeat as the Cubs slipped to 14-11-1-0 overall.
