Rapids ride special teams wave to win over Thunderbirds

A pair of power play goals were the difference on Saturday night as the French River Rapids picked up a 3-1 win over the Soo Thunderbirds in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League play at Noelville Arena.

After the teams skated through a scoreless opening period, the Thunderbirds got on the board first as forward Jonathan Sonedecker converted an Aiden Atkinson cross-ice feed with just under five minutes to go in the middle stanza.

French River tied the game at one a few shifts later while on a two-man advantage as Cameron Jansa grabbed a puck that deflected off the end boards and jammed it past Thunderbirds goaltender Noah Metivier.

While still on the power play, French River took the lead with just under two minutes to go in the second period as Nolan Masson skated through the left faceoff circle and took a shot that beat Metivier to make it a 2-1 game.

An empty net goal by Hunter Vilanez sealed the win for the Rapids in the third period.

With the victory, French River improves to 3-2-0-2 on the season while the Thunderbirds dropped their fourth straight game and fall to 4-4-1-0.