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The first road game of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League regular season wasn’t kind to the Soo Thunderbirds.
Playing the back end of a home-and-home series with the Elliot Lake Red Wings, the Thunderbirds dropped an 8-4 decision at Elliot Lake’s Centennial Arena.
The Red Wings took command of the game early, scoring six times in the opening period en route to the win.
Elliot Lake opened the scoring just past the midway point of the opening period when Red Wings forward Alex Antoine beat Thunderbirds netminder Zachary Reddy near the side of the goal after the Thunderbirds turned the puck over behind their own goal.
Just 1:12 later, Josh Tomasi took a pass in the right faceoff circle from Devin Shoreman at the left point and beat Reddy to give the home side a two-goal lead.
The Thunderbirds tied the game on the next shift as Brock Santa Maria skated over the Red Wings blueline and into the right faceoff circle before beating goaltender Cameron Smith's high short side. The goal came 29 seconds after Tomasi’s goal.
Elliot Lake made it 3-1 when Matthew Shulist beat Reddy with a shot from the left circle that beat the Sault goaltender 5-hole.
Darcy Scott extended the Red Wings' lead to 4-1 when he beat Reddy glove side with a shot from the point that found its way through traffic in the slot.
With just under five minutes to go in the opening period, Evan Dantas went to the net and redirected a pass from Charlie Wesholowski on a 2-on-1 past Reddy to make it 5-1 Red Wings.
Youssef Chaouachi cut the lead to 5-2 with 3:01 to go in the opening period as he beat Smith with a backhand on a breakaway.
Elliot Lake restored the four-goal lead as a sharp-angle shot by Kaden Laverdiere deflected past Reddy off a Thunderbirds player in close to make it 6-2.
Zachary Vickerman made it 7-3 when he beat Thunderbirds goaltender Kolton Bourret with a sharp-angle shot from the right corner along the goalline just under seven minutes into the second period.
The onslaught continued just under two minutes later when Silas Crawford made it 8-2 with a shorthanded marker. After a faceoff win in the Elliot Lake zone, Crawford skated the puck the length of the ice and through the slot before beating Bourret with a backhand glove side.
Michael Chaffay made it 8-3 in the third period when he took a turnover in the slot and beat Smith glove side at 7:08.
With the Thunderbirds on a two-man advantage late in the third, Dharan Cap scored on a rebound in tight to make it 8-4.
The loss drops the Thunderbirds' record to 1-2-0-0 (wins-loses-overtime losses-shootout losses), while Elliot Lake gets into the win column and also holds a 1-2-0-0 record.
Next up for the Thunderbirds is a home game on Friday night against the French River Rapids.