With an opportunity to pad their division lead, the Soo Thunderbirds showed little spark and allowed Northern Michigan to tighten the gap.
The Northern Michigan Black Bears took control of the game from the opening face-off and cruised to a 7-4 win over the Thunderbirds on Sunday night in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
"We didn't show up to play tonight, we were very selfish and they weren't. I don't want to point the finger at anybody other than the entire team. I've been here four years and this is as flat as we have ever been. It was just an ugly game for us," said Thunderbirds head coach Jim Capy.
While Capy was hesitant to make any excuses following the game, he noted that the flu bug is making the rounds through the dressing room and is currently affecting at least six players.
"We knew before the game that (the Black Bears) are an extremely hard working team. It doesn't matter whether we they are up 2-0 or down 4-1. We had them 4-1 the other night in their rink and we had to battle to escape with a tie. If you don't come prepared to play them then this is the result you get," said Capy.
The Black Bears took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by John Nogatch and Sault product Chris Towell while holding the Thunderbirds to just five shots on Northern Michigan goaltender Tony Stoehr.
Russell Law put the Black Bears ahead 3-0 just 36 seconds into the second period which chased Thunderbirds starting goaltender Mike Downer from the game in favour of newly acquired Matt McBride.
Tom Vernelli put the Thunderbirds on the board with a power play goal a few minutes later. But Northern Michigan responded with two quick goals by Steve Kruszewski on the power play and Law's second of the game to spoil any hopes of a comeback attempt by the Thunderbirds.
Mike Herbert put the Black Bears ahead 6-1 with an empty net goal midway through the second period. In an effort to create a spark, Capy had pulled McBride from the net for two stretches in the period to give the Thunderbirds an extra attacker.
"I tried to create a spark by pulling him out and I have done it many times before but after a few minutes, I didn't even think that that was going to work. It worked better for us in the third period but it just seemed like there wasn't anything that was going to inspire us tonight," said Capy.
The Thunderbirds tried to make things interesting in the third period with three goals. D.J. Jelitto scored a pair while Andrew Jakubaitis added another on the power play.
Kruszewski capped the scoring with 2:54 remaining into the empty net. The Black Bears outshot the Thunderbirds 32-29.
Towell, a former Soo North Star and brother of Thunderbird forward Justin Towell, added an assist and was named the game's first star for his gritty effort.
With the win, the Black Bears pull to within six points of the Thunderbirds for first place in the West Division with a 15-11-2-1 record for 33 points. The Thunderbirds fall to 17-5-4-1 for 39 points with two games in hand.
The game followed a 5-5 tie between the two teams in St. Ignace, Michigan on Wednesday. The Black Bears rallied from a 4-1 deficit to salvage the draw. Aaron Anderson led the Thunderbirds with two goals while singles went to Jelitto, Vernelli and Josh Leddy. McBride made his debut for the Thunderbirds and stopped 34 of 39 shots
The Thunderbirds are currently suffering through some key injuries with defensive leader Ryan MacKay and forward Bryan Pearse out with a shoulder injuries and defenseman Jeff Elliott out with a knee injury. MacKay and Pearse are expected to be ready next week while Elliott is out for at least another month.
Capy is expecting to make some roster moves before the January 10th trade deadline to strengthen the team.
The team has already made three moves recently with former Soo Greyhounds goaltender Joey Biasucci and former Soo Indians forward Eric Sargent being added to the roster. Forward Jason Weigal, acquired from the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL, is also a new addition and was dressed for Sunday's game.
With three goalies currently on their roster, Capy expects to move one of them prior to the deadline.
The Thunderbirds will enjoy a brief holiday before heading to the heavily scouted Newmarket Showcase Tournament December 27-30, where the team claimed semi-finalist honours in their last visit two seasons ago.
The team will enjoy another layoff before an exhibition game against the USA Under-18 squad in Gaylord, Michigan on January 10th. The next NOJHL action for the Thunderbirds is January 14th when the Blind River Beavers visit the Soo.