The Soo Thunderbirds have crept into a tie for second place in the western division with a pair of victories over the weekend.
On Saturday night in Blind River, the Thunderbirds scored a 5-2 victory over the hometown Beavers before rolling past the Manitoulin Wild 10-2 on Sunday afternoon at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League victories move the Thunderbirds into a tie with Blind River with 51 points although the Beavers hold a game in hand.
In what is likely to be a first round playoff matchup, the battle for second place between the two teams takes on added importance as home ice advantage is on the line.
"(Saturday) was a huge victory for us," said Thunderbirds head coach Toots Kovacs. "We played a very disciplined game plus we did our job defensively by only giving up 23 shots. We are tied with them now and it's going to be interesting as things will come down right to the end."
On Sunday, the Thunderbirds jumped to 3-0 lead by the 9:22 mark of the opening period and led 4-1 by the intermission. In the second period, the Soo used four power play goals to grab a 9-1 cushion.
Drew Jarrett scored twice and added two assists for the Thunderbirds while Justin Shelleby also netted a pair and setup another.
Matt Caria recorded a goal and three assists, Jeff Elliot scored a goal and two assists while Jacob Lalonde, Matt Dias and Pat Keating scored a goal and an assist each. Mark Thorburn also scored and Matt Hache recorded the win in net.
"This game was a tough game to coach in and play in," said Kovacs. "I give credit to Manitoulin because in a 10-2 game you can revert to goon tactics but they stuck to the game. I believe that Manitoulin team isn't done yet and might be heard from in the playoffs."
On Saturday, Dias led the Thunderbirds attack with two goals and two assists while Caria scored once and setup two others. Lalonde added a goal and an assist while Mark Thorburn scored once and Tony Brune recorded two assists. Michael Maulucci picked up the win in goal.
Blind River led the game 2-1 after one period before the Thunderbirds scored four answered goals to close the game.
(All photos courtesy of Jim Egan.)