SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – With two of the hottest teams in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League meeting Sunday afternoon at the John Rhodes Community Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., it was the hometown Soo Thunderbirds who prevailed after skating to a hotly-contested 3-2 victory over the Timmins Rock.
Sporting pink jerseys in support of cancer awareness, Sault Ste. Marie got off to the start they wanted by grabbing a 2-0 lead after one period of play thanks to Lucas Theriault’s 12th, which came at even strength at 7:19, and Kobe Seguin’s first NOJHL marker, during a man advantage, three and a half minutes later.
After a scoreless middle session, Timmins had a power play to begin the third and capitalized when Derek Seguin bagged his league-leading 15th goal at 1:53 to bring the visitors to within one.
The Rock then drew level with just over eight minutes remaining thanks to Josh Dickson’s sixth of the campaign.
However, Theriault struck again for the Soo with 4:18 left in regulation as his second of the day and team-leading 13th was the difference.
Timmins did pull their starter Nicholas Dicks a couple of times in the late going in an attempt to level the proceedings once more, but the Thunderbirds held firm from there to secure the win.
Shots on goal in the contest favoured the Soo 31-30 with Colin Ahern earning the victory while Dicks suffered the narrow defeat for the Rock.
With the result the NOJHL West Division-leading Thunderbirds improved to 13-3-0-0 on the year while Timmins, who top the NOJHL East, fell to 13-6-1-0 on the campaign.
Game Photos courtesy of Rod Aubertin – SSM Photos
