SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – A four-goal second period outburst sent the Soo Thunderbirds on their way to a 5-1 triumph over the rival Soo Eagles Friday in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League meeting at Pullar Stadium.
First period play saw the initial 20 minutes go scoreless with the Eagles’ Kameron Ragon and the Thunderbirds’ Landon Miller handling each attempt they faced.
With seven straight wins over the Eagles entering the contest, the Thunderbirds were shorthanded entering the second stanza, but they opened the scoring early by striking shorthanded.
On the play, Anton Petrovskiy broke free along the side boards and powered his way down the left wing where his snap shot from the inside the circle beat Ragon.
Building on that, the T-Birds tacked on a trio of even strength efforts in a six-minute span to go up by four.
Jackson Truchan made it 2-0 at 10:44 as he was sent in alone on a breakaway and made no mistake by firing one through the legs or Ragon and in.
The visitors then came right back and scored again moments later compliments of Daniel Beaupre, who tucked one in from close range.
They then saw Dharan Cap collect his 25th of the season at 16:48 as the Thunderbirds came out quickly in transition and saw him convert blocker side while bearing down on Ragon.
Getting one back late in the period, Jack Paweski put the Eagles on the board with 40 seconds left in the session as he jammed one in prior to a pile-up in the crease with Miller.
Action in a chippy final stanza saw only one goal scored, which was provided by the Thunderbirds’ Justin Mauro at 5:19 as he cranked in a one-timer from the right side while the clubs were skating four aside.
That tally came against Logan Raffaele, who went in net for the home side to begin the third.
The outcome sees the T-Birds improve to 33-12-3-2 on the season while the Eagles dipped to 21-23-4-1.