Thunderbirds defeat Eskimos 6-1

NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

NOJHL COMMUNICATIONS
MEDIA RELEASE

Release Date: Saturday, March 9, 2013

Thunderbirds defeat Eskimos 6-1

SAULT STE. MARIE – Dallas McLaughlin scored once and set-up two others to help lead the Soo Thunderbirds past the visiting Abitibi Eskimos 6-1 Saturday in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play at Essar Centre.

Some miscommunication behind the Abitibi net led to the opening goal as the Soo’s Nicholas Pastorious scooped up a loose puck from behind the net and tucked it in the open side resulting in a quick goaltender change with Jeremy Laux giving way to Jackson Winker after just 2:17 of game action.

The Thunderbirds tacked on two more tallies later in the opening frame courtesy of Adam Ritchie and Daniel Pymaki to go up 3-0 before the Eskimos’ Nick Fountain connected on the power play before the session was out.

Two more markers in the second stanza made it a 5-1 game after 40 minutes with Joey Miller and Gavin Burbach notching the goals.

McLaughlin then rounded out the scoring in the third to help the Thunderbirds improve to 31-9-3-3 on the season.

Joel Horodziejczyk made 21 saves to pick up the win the Soo net.

Laux saw only two shots in his brief stint in the Abitibi net while Winkler was peppered with 39 pucks in a losing cause as his side slipped to 14-30-0-3.

NOJHL action resumes on a busy Sunday as three games are on the docket.

Abitibi winds up a three-game road trip with a 2 p.m. matinee at Blind River while North Bay hosts Elliot Lake at the same time and the day concludes as Sudbury pays a visit to Essar Centre to tangle with the T-Birds at 7 p.m.