NEWS RELEASE
NORTHERN ONTARIO JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
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Riding the strength of veteran goaltender Noah Metivier, the Soo Thunderbirds went on to blank the Blind River Beavers 3-0 Saturday in the sixth game of their Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League quarterfinal matchup at John Rhodes Community Centre.
With the outcome, the best-of-seven series is now tied 3-3 and sets up a seventh and deciding game Tuesday in Blind River at 7 p.m., and on FLOHockey.tv.
After trading some chances in the opening half of the first period, it was the Thunderbirds who opened scoring just over 11 minutes in.
On the tally, a crisp pass up-ice by defenceman Matteo Moretta sent Sault Ste. Marie ahead on a three-on-two where Harley Wardell shovelled a pass over to Callum McAuley darting down the left side where he drove through the circle and wired one upstairs on Blind River netminder Connor Dunham-Fox.
The goal gives McAuley a point in each of the five past match-ups.
Some big stops by Dunham-Fox to keep his side close, along with Metivier handling each attempt he faced, resulted in a scoreless second stanza.
Heading to the final frame, the Soo doubled their lead when an errant play around the boards by the Beavers allowed the Soo’s James Elliot to corral the loose puck in his own zone and head up ice against multiple defenders, where he went from right to left with pace and sizzled a wrist shot past Dunham-Fox at 4:19.
Notching a clincher 11 minutes later, Wardell led a rush into Blind River territory, then pulled up and fed Ryan Daze in the high slot where his attempt to the target was blocked, but Jacob Smith was right there at the top of the crease to collect the puck, spin and slam in the insurance marker to round out the scoring.
The shutout for Metivier was the fifth of his playoff career.
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