Birds blank Beavers
Soo Thunderbirds regained their scoring touch on Thursday and the end result was a one-sided whitewash.
Riding the crest of a five-goal second period that chased starting goalie Jessie Morin from the net, the Thunderbirds blanked the visiting Blind River Beavers 6-0 to take a 2-1 lead in their opening-round, best-of-seven, Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League playoff series.
Game 4 of the set is slated for Saturday in Blind River. Game 5 will be back in the Soo on Sunday at Essar Centre.
Opening faceoff both nights is 7:30 p.m.
Playing without all-star goalie Joel Horodziejczyk and high-scoring forward Darcy Haines, the Thunderbirds got 16 saves from backup puckstopper Brian Kment and solo goals from Anthony Miller, Joey Miller, Eric Hillock, Brent Jeffries and defencemen Owen Headrick and David Radke en route to victory.
Horodziejczyk has been nursing a lower-body injury while Haines was not in uniform for the game.
The 6-0 Thunderbird triumph followed a pair of 3-2 finals that started the series with Blind River winning the opener and the Soo taking the second match.
A bright spot for Blind River on the night was the play of 20-year old goalie Dylan Knox, who relieved the rookie Morin late in the second period and stopped 14 of 15 shots the rest of the way.
Why wasn’t Haines in uniform?
Coach’s decision, I suppose.