Thunderbirds are back on track (9 photos added)

Just 48 hours after a lacklustre effort in a road win over the Northern Michigan Black Bears, the Soo Thunderbirds got themselves back on track with a 6-0 victory over the Abitibi Eskimos on Saturday night.

The Eskimos entered the game on the heels of a disappointing effort against the Black Bears on Friday evening and had little time to recuperate.

The two teams played to a scoreless opening period, but the Thunderbirds did find themselves becoming short-staffed. Not only did they lose Matt Conway, who received a minor penalty and game misconduct for a hit from behind early in the period, the Thunderbirds also lost the services of Adam Kauppi, Ben Davey, and Grant McGee to injuries.

The Thunderbirds, despite being short-staffed, opened up the floodgates in the second period. On top of outshooting the Eskimos 14-4 in the period, the Thunderbirds also fired home three goals past Abitibi goaltender Cedric Bradette.

Ryan Maunu opened the scoring just 33 seconds into the second period. Not long after Maunu's goal, he helped set up a goal by Tyler Gendron to give the locals a 2-0 lead. The Thunderbirds weren't done there as Mike McMillan scored his first goal of the season to send the game into the third period with the Thunderbirds up 3-0.

The Thunderbirds saved the rest f the scoring for the second half of the final period. At 10:24, and with the Thunderbirds shorthanded, Gendron picked up his second goal of the evening. Just 59 seconds later Kyle Rodgers scored an unassisted marker to all but seal the victory. Maunu added his second goal, and third point, of the night at 16:24.

Travis O'Brien posted his first NOJHL shutout in being named the game's first star. Although he wasn't busy facing 13 shots on the night, the young netminder came up big on the rare occasion he was tested. Bradette stopped 41 shots in the loss for Abitibi.

Thunderbirds head coach Toots Kovacs was pleased that his team was able to overcome some key losses in their lineup early in the game and make up for it.

"We faced some adversity right off the bat," said Kovacs. "We had Ben Davey hurt his thumb, Adam Kauppi left with a groin injury, and Matt Conway got the hit from behind penalty. We had to move Drew Jarrett back to the point.

"The thing I like best is that (the players) faced that adversity and overcame it," Kovacs added. "It's so easy for kids to face adversity and back away from it. They knocked the adversity down and went though it and I'm proud of them for that."

Kovacs was also pleased with the defensive play of the hockey club and credited assistant coach Pat Carricato.

"Defensively, Pat Carricato does a great job with my defencemen," Kovacs said. "Those are his boys. He works very well with them and they have a lot of respect for him and they follow through with what he teaches them."

Kovacs added that he was pleased with the play of Chris Towell and O'Brien among others.

"One of our best forward tonight, I thought, was Chris Towell," Kovacs said. "I'm not sure how many points he got but I thought he was one of our best forwards down low. I thought it was his best game all year.

"Travis made a few big saves for us in the first period," Kovacs commented. "Trav didn't win the best goalie in the Great North Midget League for nothing. He's here and we're expecting him to contribute."

Next action for the Thunderbirds will be on Oct. 19 when they host Northern Michigan at the John Rhodes Community Centre. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

(All photos courtesy of Jim Egan.)