NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
NOJHL NETWORK MEDIA UPDATE
Release Date: Sunday, Dec. 11, 2016
Thunderbirds win 8th straight with rally over Wildcats
ELLIOT LAKE, Ont. – The Soo Thunderbirds rallied from a one-goal deficit by tallying twice in the third period to pull out their eighth consecutive victory, a narrow 3-2 decision over the Elliot Lake Wildcats, Sunday evening in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at Centennial Arena.
A free-wheeling opening 20 minutes saw the Thunderbirds outshoot the Wildcats 17-7, but Elliot Lake netminder Justin Richer and Sault Ste. Marie’s Brandon Gordon were both equal to the task in keeping the game scoreless.
The T-Birds would open the night’s scoring 13:37 into the middle stanza on a Nick Smith effort only to see William Bucsis connect on the power play for the Wildcats just 56 seconds later to knot the affair at 1-1.
Elliot Lake then came back and went in front a couple shifts later compliments of Taylor Woolcott’s fourth of the season at 16:02.
The Soo tied it five and a half minutes into the final frame on Matthew Caruso’s 14th goal before eventually getting the game-winner, during a man advantage opportunity, with 8:18 to go as Keegan Stevenson notched his seventh for the Thunderbirds in 2016-17.
Ryan Mulligan and Austin Kozluk both dished out two assists each to aid the winners’ cause.
Shots favoured the Soo by a 46-34 count with Gordon picking up the win and Richer the loss.
With the result the T-Birds extended their winning streak and improved to 23-7-1-0 on the year while Elliot Lake slipped to 11-20-1-1.
NOJHL action resumes Monday as the red-hot Powassan Voodoos put their impressive 20-game winning streak on the line as they host the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners in a 7:30 p.m. start at the Powassan Sportsplex.
All NOJHL games are streamed live online at HockeyTV.Com.
