A pair of opening period goals were the difference for the Soo Thunderbirds on Wednesday night.
Goals by Tanner Mayne and Nolan Ford just under three minutes apart helped lift the Thunderbirds to a 3-1 Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League victory over the Espanola Express at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
The Express opened the scoring just over four minutes into the contest as Cole Csorbay scored his third goal of the young season.
Ryan Mulligan sealed the win with his first goal of the season midway through the third period.
Thunderbirds goaltender Eric Schuch stopped 18 shots in the victory.
Espanola netminder Jacob Hutchings made 38 saves.
The Thunderbirds improve to 4-2-1-0 with the victory while Espanola remains winless at 0-8-0-0.
The Thunderbirds return to action on Friday night in the opening game of a home-and-home series with the Soo (Mich.) Eagles. The weekend set opens Friday at Pullar Stadium in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. before the two teams play at the John Rhodes Community Centre on Saturday night.
Puck drop for both games is set for 7:30 p.m.