SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – Sam Evola saved all 32 shots he faced to post his third shutout in nine appearances while Colton Hayes tallied twice and helped set-up one more as the Soo Thunderbirds skated to their sixth victory in a row and blanked the Blind River Beavers 4-0 Friday night in a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League West Division match-up at John Rhodes Community Centre.
The shutout was also the second in a row by the Thunderbirds, who have now gone 173 minutes and four seconds of game action without giving up a goal.
The evening’s first power play helped Sault Ste. Marie notch the lone tally of the first period as Nolan Ford connected for his fifth of the season just past the four-minute mark of the contest, which proved to be the game-winner.
Moving to the second stanza, the Thunderbirds tacked on another at 7:37 as Hayes finished off the work of teammates Avery Rebek and Dylan Parsons.
The assist for Rebek was his second of three on the night, helping him run a point streak to five games in a row.
It was more from the Soo six minutes into the third as Jordan Broome added to their lead as the hosts went up by three.
The Thunderbirds then put the game away when Hayes added his second of the evening, during a man advantage, at 11:13 to round out the scoring.
While Evola got the win, improving to 7-1 since joining the Soo back in December, Dominic Boily faced 32 attempts in defeat for Blind River.
With the outcome, the Thunderbirds improved to 27-14-2-3 to continue their winning ways, while the Beavers saw a three-game unbeaten run come to a close as they fell to 31-11-1-3 overall.
The two sides will cap off a weekend home-and-home Saturday in Blind River at 7 p.m.
Game Photos: Bob Davies
