Thunderbirds in control of Blind River

The Soo Thunderbirds are just one win away from capturing their Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League quarterfinal sereis.

On Sunday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre, the Thunderbirds stormed back from a 3-2 deficit with two goals in the game's final four minutes to record a 4-3 victory over the Blind River Beavers.

The victory gives the Thunderbirds a 3-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series with game five scheduled for Tuesday night in Blind River.

Adam Combs of the Beavers scored the only goal in the opening period before the teams went to the dressing room tied at 2-2 lead after two. Tyler Lannigan and Kyle Rodgers scored for the Soo while David Jarick replied for the Beavers.

In the third period, Alex Durinka scored 3:17 in on the power play to put Blind River ahead 3-2 but with 3:41 remaining in regulation time, Rodger's second goal of the game ted the score and set up Brett Perlini's game winner with 1:20 left to play.

Jake Reid set up a pair of goals for the Thunderbirds while Perlini assisted on another. Ryan Dube stopped 31 shots in goal for the win while the Soo peppered the Beavers with 51 shots.

*** GAME SUMMARY:

Blind River Lineup: Matt Bell, Jason Bird, Tanner Burton, Jacob Chiblow, Adam Combs, Jon Drake, Alex Durinka, Josh Faulkner, Rob Higgins, Jeremy Hilliard, Matt Irving, Kenny Jackson, David Jarick, Andre Laperriere, Brett LaValley, Anthony Libonati, Tyler Liukkonen, Garrett Nystedt, Shawn Sirman, Tyler Stephens Soo Thunderbirds Lineup: Shawn Bibeau, Matt Conway, Ben Davey, Brad Dicandia, Ryan Dube, Tyler Gendron, Mark Hoffman, Rob Johnson, Adam Kauppi, Dylan King, Dan Klever, Tyler Lannigan, Nick Minardi, Travis O Brien, Brett Perlini, Adam Pyymaki, Jake Reid, Kyle Rodgers, Dan Vernelli, Randy Wills

First Period 1. BR: Adam Combs (Kenny Jackson, Jason Bird) 07:04 FG

Penalties: Alex Durinka BR (CC) 2 min 03:27; Adam Pyymaki SOO (CHG) 2 min 07:50; Jason Bird BR (RO) 2 min 16:05; Matt Conway SOO (CC) 2 min 17:23; Kyle Rodgers SOO (HKG) 2 min 18:42;

Second Period 2. SOO: Tyler Lannigan (Brett Perlini, Nick Minardi) 06:39 PP 3. SOO: Kyle Rodgers (Jake Reid, Dylan King) 07:25 PP 4. BR: David Jarick (Jon Drake, Brett LaValley) 14:59

Penalties: Tanner Burton BR (HKG) 2 min 04:41; Matt Bell BR (CC) 2 min 05:47;

Third Period 5. BR: Alex Durinka (Josh Faulkner, Jon Drake) 03:17 PP 6. SOO: Kyle Rodgers (Jake Reid, Matt Conway) 16:19 7. SOO: Brett Perlini (Adam Kauppi, ) 18:40 GW PP

Penalties: No Penalties

Shots on Goal Blind River 9 12 13 - 34 Soo Thunderbirds 16 16 19 - 51 Goaltenders Shawn Sirman (BR) - L Ryan Dube (SOO) - W Game Stars 1. Kyle Rodgers (SOO) 2. Brett Perlini (SOO) 3. Jon Drake (BR) *** SOO vs. BLIND RIVER - Game 3

Soo 3 Blind River 2

First Period No Scoring

Penalties: Kyle Rodgers SOO (HOST) 2 min 01:58; Jeremy Hilliard BR (HKG) 2 min 14:28;

Second Period 1. SOO: Tyler Gendron (Tyler Lannigan, Kyle Rodgers) 03:58 FG 2. SOO: Brett Perlini (Tyler Gendron, Nick Minardi) 08:18

Penalties: Adam Combs BR (CC) 2 min 00:49; Adam Combs BR (RO) 2 min 00:49; Rob Higgins BR (HKG) 2 min 01:08; Matt Conway SOO (INT) 2 min 03:08; Shawn Bibeau SOO (HKG) 2 min 04:04; Tyler Lannigan SOO (INT) 2 min 15:04; Matt Conway SOO (ELB) 2 min 20:00;

Third Period 3. BR: Alex Durinka (David Jarick, Josh Faulkner) 01:58 PP 4. SOO: Tyler Gendron (Brett Perlini, Nick Minardi) 09:49 GW 5. BR: Josh Faulkner (Alex Durinka, Andre Gauvin) 14:10 PP

Penalties: Brad Dicandia SOO (RO) 2 min 08:17; Tyler Stephens BR (RO) 2 min 08:17; Anthony Libonati BR (RAW) 2 min 12:22; Tyler Gendron SOO (HKG) 2 min 12:22; David Jarick BR (RO) 2 min 13:22; Randy Wills SOO (RO) 2 min 13:22; Dan Vernelli SOO (BDG) 2 min 13:58; Jeremy Hilliard BR (HKG) 2 min 15:21; Brett Perlini SOO (HKG) 2 min 17:43;

Shots on Goal Blind River 6 12 15 - 33 Soo Thunderbirds 7 17 8 - 32 Goaltenders Shawn Sirman (BR) - L Ryan Dube (SOO) - W Game Stars 1. Tyler Gendron (SOO) 2. Josh Faulkner (BR) 3. Ryan Dube (SOO) Game Attendance 283 *** SOO vs. BLIND RIVER - Game 2

Soo 4 (OT) Blind River 3

First Period 1. SOO: Tyler Lannigan (Dan Vernelli, Adam Pyymaki) 07:41 2. SOO: Tyler Lannigan (Nick Minardi, Adam Pyymaki) 13:57 PP 3. BR: Jon Drake (Andre Gauvin, Matt Irving) 17:33 PP

Penalties: Ben Davey SOO (HOST) 2 min 03:11; Jacob Chiblow BR (INT) 2 min 05:37; Jon Drake BR (TR) 2 min 11:39; Tyler Stephens BR (TR) 2 min 13:25; Matt Conway SOO (INT) 2 min 16:16; Tyler Lannigan SOO (SL) 2 min 17:01; Alex Durinka BR (GM50) 2 min 18:39;

Second Period 4. BR: Tyler Stephens (Unassisted) 09:24 5. BR: Josh Faulkner (Rob Higgins, ) 15:43

Penalties: Dan Vernelli SOO (HO) 2 min 03:35; Shawn Bibeau SOO (TR) 2 min 04:36; Brad Dicandia SOO (M21) 0 min 04:36; Dylan King SOO (HO) 2 min 09:58; Tyler Stephens BR (HO) 2 min 13:02; Adam Combs BR (M22) 0 min 13:02; Tyler Lannigan SOO (M22) 0 min 13:02; Jacob Chiblow BR (USC) 2 min 15:43; Matt Conway SOO (INT) 2 min 16:37;

Third Period 6. SOO: Nick Minardi (Tyler Gendron, ) 04:26

Penalties: Dean Corcoran SOO (GM21) 0 min 00:39; Bench SOO (BM) 2 min 00:39; Jeremy Hilliard BR (RO) 2 min 07:34; Shawn Bibeau SOO (INT) 2 min 13:52; Matt Conway SOO (SL) 2 min 20:00; Josh Faulkner BR (USC) 2 min 20:00;

OT Period 7. SOO: Jake Reid (Adam Pyymaki, Dan Vernelli) 03:16 GW

Penalties: No Penalties

Shots on Goal Soo Thunderbirds 15 9 9 2 - 35 Blind River 6 20 6 3 - 35 Goaltenders Shawn Sirman (BR) - L Ryan Dube (SOO) - W Game Stars 1. Jake Reid (SOO) 2. Josh Faulkner (BR) 3. Tyler Lannigan (SOO) ***