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Winning continues to be a habit for the Soo Thunderbirds.
The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League club has won nine straight games thanks to a 6-2 victory over the Blind River Beavers on Wednesday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
The Thunderbirds broke a 2-2 tie with four unanswered goals in the win.
The Beavers opened the scoring early on when James Ingram deflected a point shot b y Nolan Connolly past Thunderbirds starter Noah Zeppa 5:23 into the contest.
The Thunderbirds would use a pair of quick goals to take the lead later in the frame.
Kelsey Ouellet got the Thunderbirds on the board at 11:10 when he found himself in tight near the Blind River goal and beat Beavers goaltender Jeremi Delaquis high stick side to tie the game.
Just 92 seconds later, Cole Delarosbil gave the home team the lead as he beat Delaquis high glove side from the left faceoff circle.
Blind River took advantage of an early power play in the second period when Meguire Naughton scored on a rebound from in close after Jesse Dupuis’s initial shot from the slot was stopped by Zeppa at 4:28/
The Thunderbirds retook the lead 1:01 later as Cooper Foster scored on a rebound after Delaquis stopped Ouellet initially on the play.
Just 43 seconds after Foster’s goal, Brock Santa Maria made it 4-2 Thunderbirds when he got the puck in tight and beat Delaquis high short side.
Delarosbil picked up his second goal of the night just over seven minutes into the third period when he finished a passing play from the slot that saw him take a feed from Samuel Lake on the left wing.
With 1:41 to go in the game, Delarosbil completed the hat trick with a shorthanded marker that saw him break down the right wing and cut around a Blind River defender before beating Delaquis to cap off the scoring.
Thunderbirds defenceman Kaden Dundas assisted on four goals in the win while Michael Chaffay added a pair of helpers for the Thunderbirds.
Zeppa made 20 saves while Delaquis stopped 38 shots for the visitors.
With the win, the Thunderbirds improve to 29-5-2-3 and move 13 points ahead of the Soo (Mich.) Eagles for top spot in the NOJHL’s West Division though the Eagles have five games in hand.
The Beavers fall to 20-13-4-0 and remain in a battle with Eagles and Greater Sudbury Cubs for playoff positioning in the division.
The Beavers are five points behind the Eagles and one point ahead of the Cubs in the standings.
The NOJHL announced a schedule change on Wednesday involving the Thunderbirds.
Originally slated to host the Hearst Lumberjacks on Friday night at the GFL Memorial Gardens, the Thunderbirds will now face the Cochrane Crunch instead. The schedule change comes after a number of players on the Lumberjacks tested positive for COVID-19.
The Lumberjacks were scheduled to play three games this weekend, including Friday’s matchup with the Thunderbirds. All three games will be rescheduled.
Friday’s meeting between the Thunderbirds and Crunch will be a 7 p.m. start at the GFL Memorial Gardens.