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It almost came to an end, but the Soo Thunderbirds winning streak lives for another day.
An overtime goal by Mason Chitaroni helped the Soo Thunderbirds extend their winning streak to 15 games with a 4-3 Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League victory over the Blind River Beavers at the Blind River Community Centre.
Chitaroni’s goal came after the Beavers erased a 3-0 Thunderbirds lead with three goals in in just under six minutes in the third period to push the game into the extra frame.
Russell Oldham opened the scoring for the Thunderbirds at 12:36 of the first period when he took a pass in tight from Brock Santa Maria and beat Blind River netminder Patrick Boivin for his sixth goal of the season.
Cooper Foster made it 2-0 when he picked up his 18th goal of the season at 16:04 of the opening frame. Foster tapped in a rebound after Boivin initially stopped a one-timer by Santa Maria from the right circle. The goal came after the Beavers turned the puck over trying to exit their zone moments earlier.
Kyle Trottier extended the visitors lead to 3-0 at 12:48 of the second period when he skated down the left wing and followed up a rebound after his initial shot from the left circle was stopped.
Blind River got on the board at 7:46 of the third period on the power play when Ethan Pegg took a shot from the point that was deflected in close. Sault native Jacob Kovacs was credited with the goal while Meguire Naughton was also in close creating traffic in front of Thunderbirds goaltender Noah Zeppa.
Dylan Hendrick cut the lead to 3-2 at 9:41 when he skated down the right wing and took a shot from the faceoff circle that appeared to hit the crossbar and stay out. Initially whistled down and called a goal, a conversation between the four officials in the contest confirmed it and the Beavers were back in the hockey game.
Kyle Caron tied the game at 13:03 when he beat Zeppa high stick side from the slot after taking a pass from Pegg.
In overtime, Chitaroni got the winner just over three minutes into the extra frame when he circled the Blind River goal and looked to send the puck into the slot. It proceeded to back in past Boivin to give the Thunderbirds the victory.
Boivin made 32 saves for the Beavers while Zeppa stopped 28 at the other end for the Thunderbirds.
Following Sunday’s result, the Thunderbirds have a record of 35-5-2-3, which is tops in the NOJHL’s West Division.
Meanwhile, Blind River falls to 23-15-5-0 with the loss, but gained a point in the standings on the Greater Sudbury Cubs, who dropped an 8-4 decision to the Espanola Express on Sunday afternoon.
The Beavers sit one point behind the Cubs for third in the West Division as the regular season continues to wind down.
On Friday night, Noah Metivier made 19 saves as the Thunderbirds blanked the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners 2-0 on home ice at the John Rhodes Community Centre,
A power play goal by Kenny Belanger Jr. at 6:43 of the second period was the difference for the Thunderbirds. Dharan Cap added some insurance thanks to a power play goal with with 3:30 to go in the third period.
Cap had a goal and an assist in the win.
Keaton Lyons stopped 27 shots for the Gold Miners in the loss.
The Thunderbirds return to action on March 26 when the team faces the Soo (Mich.) Eagles at Pullar Stadium in the Michigan Sault.