An offensive explosion that saw them score four times in just under four minutes helped the Soo Thunderbirds to a convincing win on Wednesday night.
The Thunderbirds second period outburst helped the Thunderbirds to an 8-1 Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League victory over the Soo (Mich.) Eagles at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
With the win, the Thunderbirds move nine points ahead of the Eagles atop the NOJHL’s West Division, though the Eagles have four games in hand on their Sault, Ont.-based rivals.
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring when Kenny Belanger Jr. beat Eagles starter Gabe Rosek, who was out of position after contact with a pair of players in close at 13:17 of the opening period.
The Thunderbirds took a 2-0 lead in the final minute of the frame when Michael Chaffay redirected a pass in tight from Brock Santa Maria in the right circle on the power play.
Dharan Cap got the ball rolling in the second period for the Thunderbirds when he took a pass from Colby Arbour, stepped around an Eagles defender and beat Rosek glove side from the slot at 6:20.
Cooper Foster made it 4-0 when he took a pass in the left circle from Santa Maria on the right side and beat Rosek high short side at 7:19.
Just 1:57 later, Kyle Trottier made it 5-0 when he took a pass from Arbour and beat Rosek at 9:16/
Chaffay picked up his second of the night at 10:01 when he beat Rosek from the right circle high stick side, ending the night for the Eagles netminder.
Seth Ferguson got the Eagles on the board when he took a pass from Zach Briskey and beat Noah Zeppa with a deke at 11:08.
Belanger made it 7-1 early in the third period when he beat Eagles goaltender Ryan Gilmore with a backhand high stick side at 2:30 on the power play.
Defenceman Andrew Gibson capped off the scoring with 3:41 to go when he beat Gilmore high stick side from the high slot.
In addition to two-goal performances from Belanger and Chaffay, Cap finished the night with three points for the Thunderbirds on the strength of a goal and two assists.
Foster and Gibson added a goal and an assist each.
Arbour assisted on three goals while Santa Maria, Kelsey Ouellet, and Zane Burleigh assisted on a pair of goals each.
Zeppa made 19 saves for the Thunderbirds.
Rosek made 16 saves before being pulled. Gilmore entered the game and stopped 13 of the 15 shots he faced in just under 30 minutes of work.
The win improves the Thunderbirds record to 23-5-2-3 while the Eagles fall to 20-7-1-1.
The Thunderbirds wrap up their six-game homestand on Saturday night against the Timmins Rock.
Puck drop at the John Rhodes Community Centre at set for 7:30 p.m.
The team then faces the Espanola Express on Sunday afternoon at the Espanola Regional Recreation Complex.