Thunderbirds score needed win over Wolves

It might not have been the prettiest of wins but the Soo Thunderbirds are back on the winning track after posting an 8-4 victory on Sunday evening over the visiting Sudbury Northern Wolves in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action.

The victory came just two days after a disappointing loss to the Abitibi Eskimos on Friday night, a game in which the Thunderbirds played with six call ups in their lineup due to team-imposed suspensions of four regulars.

The Thunderbirds came out of the gate with plenty of jump in the opening period and were rewarded just over eight minutes into the frame.

Billy Griffore and Adam Kauppi broke in on a 2-on-1 with the Thunderbirds shorthanded and Kauppi was able to beat Northern Wolves netminder Jesse Pischlar to give the Birds a lead to work with.

Kauppi had an opportunity to open the scoring moments earlier but rang a shot off the post.

Griffore then gave the Thunderbirds a 2-0 lead at 12:50 with his ninth goal of the season. In the final minute of the period Matt Dias broke in on Pischlar on a partial breakaway and gave the Thunderbirds a 3-0 advantage.

The three goal lead was short-lived though as Brendan Biederman beat Thunderbirds goaltender Michael Maulucci just 14 seconds after Dias' goal to send the game into the second period with the locals holding a 3-1 advantage.

In the second period, the Thunderbirds continued their shooting barrage on Pischlar. Derek MacKay restored the Thunderbirds three goal lead just 28 seconds into the period when he fired a shot off the crossbar and in past Pischlar.

Phil Malafarina got the Wolves back to within two goals at 9:24 but Matt Caria, named the game's first star, again restored the three goal advantage at 13:07.

Just 17 seconds into the third period, the Wolves again cut the lead to two goals as Brian McGarry scored on the power play as he fired a point shot through a screened Maulucci.

A goal by Dias at 7:08 on a breakaway gave the Thunderbirds a 6-3 advantage but again Sudbury would cut the lead to two goals as Matt Bortolotto scored for the visitors at 11:17.

Ryan Maunu and MacKay managed to seal the victory for the Thunderbirds as they scored just over three minutes apart to give the locals the 8-4 victory.

The Thunderbirds fired 58 shots at Pischlar on the night while Maulucci was not quite as busy stopping 30 shots in the victory.

Following the win, Thunderbirds assistant coach Pat Carricato said that the one thing the locals did well for much of the opening two periods was forecheck. The forecheck was something that allowed the Thunderbirds to carry much of the play in periods one and two.

"We had used the forecheck really hard in the first two periods," Carricato said. "I think we owned them the first two periods (because of it). I wasn't too happy with the four goals that we gave up. They were mostly due to defensive breakdowns."

Carricato added that discipline, in the form of the emotion of the players, can become a problem, but Sunday was not too much of a problem in that department.

"There are times our emotions get the better of us," Carricato went on to say, "but tonight we were comfortable with it."

The Thunderbirds did run into the problem of having to play much of the last five minutes of the game shorthanded after Pat Keating was handed a five minute major penalty for checking to the head as well as a game misconduct after he nailed Northern Wolves defenceman Kyle Sheridan in the corner in the Wolves zone.

Just moments before that, Keating caught Sudbury forward Mike Morin cutting across the Soo blueline with his head down and gave the forward a hit that left the forward unsteady as he left the ice.

The Thunderbirds, on top of their 58 shots, also hit three posts on the night.

The Thunderbirds have one more game before the Christmas holiday as they head to Sudbury to face the Northern Wolves again on Wednesday night.

Next home action for the Thunderbirds will be on Jan. 14 when these same Northern Wolves will be in town.