The winning ways continued for the Soo Thunderbirds on Tuesday night.
On the heels of a four-game sweep of the Blind River Beavers in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s West Division semifinal, the Thunderbirds opened the division final Tuesday with a 3-1 win over the Soo (Mich.) Eagles at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
The win also extends the Thunderbirds lengthy winning streak to 23 games in the process.
The team hasn’t lost a game since a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Powassan Voodoos on Feb. 5.
Since the NOJHL returned to play in early-February, after COVID-19 forced the league to extend its break at Christmas, the Thunderbirds have won 24 of 25 games.
On Tuesday night against the Eagles, the Thunderbirds opened the scoring with 5:47 to go in the opening period when Kelsey Ouellet beat Eagles starter Ryan Gilmore
Breaking down the right wing, Ouellet drove the net hard from the faceoff circle and collided with Gilmore with the puck finding its way across the goal line in the process.
The home side took a 2-0 lead in the second period when Brock Santa Maria went to the net and converted a feed from Youssef Chaouachu from the left wing on a 2-on-1, beating Gilmore glove side at 13:56.
NOJHL MVP Cooper Foster made it 3-0 Thunderbirds 37 seconds into the third period when he moved into the right faceoff circle and beat Gilmore with a shot stick side.
Coby Fox broke Noah Zeppa’s shutout bid with 41 seconds to go in regulation time when he scored on a loose puck in a scramble in the slow with the Eagles on the man advantage.
Zeppa picked up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds, stopping 31 of the 32 shots he faced in the contest.
At the other end, Gilmore stopped 31 shots in the loss.
The series resumes on Wednesday night with game two scheduled for the John Rhodes Community Centre. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
The best-of-7 series will then shift to Pullar Stadium in the Michigan Sault for games three and four, which are scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights.
In the NOJHL’s East Division final, the Timmins Rock took a 1-0 series lead over the Hearst Lumberjacks thanks to a 6-1 victory on Tuesday night on home ice.
That series also resumes on Wednesday night.
The NOJHL’s playoff champion will head to the Centennial Cup, Canada’s Jr. A national championship, which begins on May 20 in Estevan, Sask.
