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In what was their final scheduled game prior to Christmas, the Soo Thunderbirds rebounded on Sunday afternoon and will head into the holidays with a victory.
Just 24 hours after dropping a 4-3 decision to the Espanola Express thanks to a power play goal in the final minute of regulation time, the Thunderbirds wrapped up the weekend with a 4-1 win over the Express on Sunday at the Espanola Regional Recreation Complex.
The Thunderbirds fell behind early as Cameron Walker, who scored three times in Saturday’s contest, went to the net and redirected a feed from Devon Savingnac past Sault netminder Alex Bugeja 1:08 into the game.
In the second period, with the Express clinging to a one-goal cushion, veteran Thunderbirds forward Avery Rebek got the visitors on the board before wasting little time putting them ahead for good.
Rebek tied the game at one with a power play goal at 14:11 of the second period when he beat Espanola netminder Owen Willis on the power play.
Moments after a faceoff win, Rebek found himself parked in the left faceoff circle, where he proceeded to beat Willis with a one-timer on a feed from defenceman Warner Young.
Just 33 seconds later, Rebek gave the Thunderbirds the lead as he moved in on a 2-on-1 with Caleb Wood. Rebek took a feed from Wood and beat Willis to give the Thunderbirds the lead for good.
Ty Zachary extended the lead for the Thunderbirds in the third period when he found himself in close and converted a great pass from Connor Toms to make it 3-1 Thunderbirds with just over 12 minutes to go.
Tyson Doucette sealed the victory for the Thunderbirds in the final minute of regulation time with an empty net goal.
Willis finished the night with 50 saves for the Express while Bugeja made 37 for the Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds will head into the Christmas break with a 4-3-0-1 (win-loss-shootout win-shootout loss) record while Espanola sits at 4-4-0-2.