The Soo Thunderbirds winning streak hit 21 games on Sunday and the team inched one win closer to advancing in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs as a result.
The Thunderbirds used a three-goal second period to pick up a 4-2 win over the Blind River Beavers in NOJHL West Division semifinal action at the Blind River Community Centre.
With the win, the Thunderbirds now have a 3-0 series lead over the Beavers.
The Beavers opened the scoring with 3:15 to go in the opening period when Meguire Naughton took a drop pass from Hayden Webster at the top of the left circle, skated into the slot and beat Noah Zeppa through some traffic.
The Thunderbirds rebounded in the second period with three goals to take the lead into the final stanza.
Samuel Lake tied the game at one with his first goal of the series at 8:07 when he took a pass to the left of the Blind River goal from Russell Oldham near the right point and slide the puck past Beavers starter Patrick Boivin.
Youssef Chaouachi then made it 2-1 Thunderbirds at 16:33, scoring on a rebound after Mason Chitaroni’s initial shot from the slot was stopped by Boivin.
NOJHL regular season MVP Cooper Foster extended the lead to 3-1 with 41.2 seconds to go in the period when he beat Boivin glove side with a shot from the left faceoff circle.
With the Thunderbirds leading, the teams proceeded to trade goals late in regulation to cap off the scoring.
Rookie defenceman Andrew Gibson scored for the Thunderbirds with 2:52 remaining, beating Boivin with a shot from the right faceoff circle through a screen before Jacob Kovacs scored for Blind River with one minute remaining. Kovacs beat Zeppa on a rebound in tight after a shot by Evan Fraccaro was stopped.
Oldham and Brock Santa Maria had a pair of assists each for the Thunderbirds in the win.
Zeppa made 25 saves while Boivin stopped 29 shots for the Beavers.
The Thunderbirds took a 2-0 series lead on Saturday night with a 3-0 win at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
Noah Metivier made 20 saves for the shutout.
Metivier now has shutouts in four straight starts and hasn’t surrendered a goal since Raphael Lajeunesse of the Hearst Lumberjacks beat the Sault netminder at 16:40 of the second period of a game on March 11. Metivier’s shutout streak hit 263:20 with Saturday’s result.
Kaden Dundas opened the scoring for the Thunderbirds in the game two victory just over two minutes into the contest when he beat Beavers starter Gavin Disano with a shot from the right point through traffic.
After a scoreless second period, Colby Arbour made it 2-0 just under four minutes into the third when he beat Disano with a shot from the top of the right circle through traffic.
Michael Chaffay capped off the scoring with 8:53 to go when he beat Disano glove side from the left circle.
Boivin made 40 saves for the Beavers.
Game four in the series is set for Monday night in Blind River.
If necessary, game five is scheduled for Wednesday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre locally.