Thunderbirds sneak past Wolves (Photos added)

Despite a lackluster performance, the Soo Thunderbirds managed to find a way to win.

Backed by the goaltending of Matt Hache, the Thunderbirds doubled up the Sudbury Northern Wolves 6-3 on Friday night in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

The Thunderbirds built a 4-0 lead over the Wolves despite having the play taken to them for nearly the entire game.

Looking disorganized and confused in the defensive zone, the Thunderbirds relied on the performance of Hache to secure the win.

"Getting the two points is about the only thing I'm happy about," said Thunderbirds head coach Toots Kovacs. "The score was not indicative of the game. They could have won this game rather easily.

"We had a 4-0 lead and then let them back into the game. We made way too many defensive zone mistakes and let a team back up when we had them down. Sudbury capitalized on some of their opportunities and to their credit, they never quit despite going down 4-0."

Drew Jarrett notched his first goal of the season as a Thunderbird while defenseman Jeff Elliot recorded back-to-back markers, the latter on the power play, to give the Soo a 3-0 lead after one period.

Kyle Jones opened the second period with a goal while the teams were playing four-on-four before the Wolves could finally solve Hache.

Rob Bonhomme, Joey Derochie and Neil MacDonald scored to pull the Wolves to within a goal at 4-3 with 11:17 remaining in regulation time.

Matt Caria sealed the win for the Thunderbirds with a big goal on a feed from Matt Dias with 3:01 remaining. Jacob Lalonde, on loan from the Soo Greyhounds, added an empty net goal.

"(Hache) had a good game for us and we are really happy for him because he has been working very hard with us in practise and with the Greyhounds and (goaltender coach) Terry Barbeau. It was also a special night for him because his parents came up from Guelph and it was the first time they saw him play this year," said Kovacs.

League scoring leader Ryan Maunu and Kyle Rodgers added a pair of assists while Elliot and Jones added one each.

Sudbury outshot the Thunderbirds in the game 42-26.

"They basically outshot us 2-1 and I know our players are not happy about this. You can't pin all the blame on the defense for our breakdowns because the forwards have a job to do as well," added Kovacs.

The win improves the Thunderbirds record to 15-13-2-1 for 33 points and vaults the team ahead of the Blind River Beavers for second place in the NOJHL's western division although the Beavers have two games in hand.

Northern Michigan holds the division lead with 39 points.

The T-Birds continue their four-game home stand on Sunday against the Rayside Balfour Sabrecats at 2 p.m. at the Rhodes.