Beavers whack T-Birds in return match

The Blind River Beavers handed the Soo Thunderbirds their first taste of defeat this season in the second game of a home-and-home series in Blind River.

Backed by a two goal performance from Darren Rainville, the Beavers defeated the Soo Thunderbirds 4-1 on Saturday night.

The win comes after the Thunderbirds defeated the Beavers 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday night in the Sault.

Matt Dias gave the Thunderbirds a 1-0 first period lead with a short handed effort.

But the Beavers responded with three goals in the second period with Rainville netting his pair. Jeff Wallis opened the period with a power play goal.

Billy Schill completed the scoring with a goal in the third period. Thomas Laplante added a pair of assists for the Beavers.

In goal, Kevin King stopped 31 of 32 shots for Blind River while the Thunderbirds' Michael Maulucci kicked aside 38 of 42 shots.

The game also saw three player ejections as Matt Caria was tossed for a checking from behind minor and Mark Thorburn was ejected for charging from the Thunderbirds. For the Beavers, Nick Brown was handed a match penalty for deliberate injury.

The loss drops the Thunderbirds record to 2-1 while Blind River improves to 2-1-0-1.

The Thunderbirds are back in action on Sunday as the Rayside Balfour Sabrecats visit the Sault for a 6 p.m. contest at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

In other NOJHL action on Saturday, Jessy Lebel scored twice to lead the Abitibi Eskimos past the Northern Michigan Black Bears 5-2 in Iroquois Falls.

The Black Bears opened their road trip on Friday night with a convincing 8-3 win over the Manitoulin Wild. Mike Herbert scored a natural hat trick in the second period as Northern Michigan exploded for six goals in the period. Chris Kraft also scored three goals for the winners.

Also on Friday, Stuart Fricke stopped all 35 shots he faced in goal as the North Bay Skyhawks blanked the Sudbury Northern Wolves 5-0.

Last Thursday, Adam Chircoski scored twice to lead Abitibi past Rayside Balfour 3-2.