SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – A Makks Demidovich marker 14 minutes into the second period proved to be the game-winner as the Soo Thunderbirds held off the Iroquois Falls Storm 3-1 in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action Friday action at John Rhodes Community Centre.
Collecting his 10th tally of the season, the Storm’s Arthur Seamus McCown pumped in a rebound from the right circle off a Felix Tremblay shot that beat Thunderbirds’ netminder Nathan Maguire at 14:42 of the opening frame.
Tying it up on a power play at 12:15 of the first period, Sault Ste. Marie’s Jackson Mead knuckled a shot over the glove of Iroquois Falls goalkeeper Keenan Connely.
The T-Birds then went in front a couple of shifts later when Demidovich wheeled across the Storm zone, then pulled up on the right side, where he wired one past Connely.
Moving to the third period, the Soo picked up an insurance goal at 5:15 when a Drew Christian shot from the right side was stopped, but the rebound hit off a skate of a Iroquois Falls defenceman and went into the net.
That gives Christian points in five straight with his goal rounding out the scoring.
With the win, Maguire improves to 9-1-0-0 on the season, while the Thunderbirds move to 14-4-0-2 overall.
In the narrow setback, the Storm slipped to 5-13-1-0.
