Thunder take two of three from Huskies

The Soo Thunder moved a step closer to their goal of finishing in top spot in the Northern Ontario Bantam AAA Hockey League this weekend.

The Thunder won two of three games against the Onaping Falls Huskies at the Rankin Arena, the team the Thunder are battling with for top spot, in a spirited series, that saw a heated rivalry continue.

The Huskies earned a victory on Saturday afternoon, by a 5-3 score, before dropping Saturday's nightcap 8-4 and the rubber match on Sunday by a 9-6 score.

Despite dropping Saturday's series opener, Thunder coach Ken Hruska was pleased with his team's effort, commenting that his team had a number of offensive chances, but could not get a bounce.

Niclas Beaudoin, with a pair of goals, paced the Thunder in the opener while Drew MacMillan also scored. Nick Esposto had a pair of goals and three assists to lead Onaping Falls, while Jamie Haines, Joshua Patrick and Brandon Labelle added singles for the Huskies.

In the night cap on Saturday, the Thunder rolled out to an early lead and appeared to have the game in control, until early in the third period.

After Esposto opened the scoring with a power play goal at 2:40 of the first period, the Thunder went on to score eight straight goals – three by Matthew Amadio and singles by Drew MacMillan, Steven Burt, Micky Sartoretto, Brett Thompson, and Alex Schmidt – to open up an 8-1 lead heading into the third period.

In the third period, the Huskies attempted to climb back into the game, scoring a pair of goals early, by Jordan Carroll, and Haines. The two goals came before the period was two minutes old, cutting the lead to 8-3 and prompting Hruska to call a timeout in order to calm his troops.

Despite giving up a late goal to Esposto, the Thunder held on for an 8-4 victory, which left the two teams tied atop the NOBHL standings heading into Sunday's finale.

In a similar fashion to Saturday night's game, the Thunder opened up a lead, only to see the Huskies battle their way back into the game.

After Patrick opened the scoring for Onaping at 2:24 of the opening period, the Thunder jumped out and took a 4-1 lead, thanks to goals by Amadio, MacMillan, Dereck Hurley, and Richard MacLennan.

MacMillan and Hurley each potted their second of the night while Sartoretto added another goal for the Thunder and they attempted to put the Huskies away.

Onaping's Carroll and Esposto also scored as the two teams went into the third period with the Thunder leading 7-3.

In the third period the two Huskies scored three times – Esposto, Labelle, and Curtis Stafford – in just over five minutes to cut into the lead.Goals by Amadio, and Grieg Dear sealed the 9-6 with for the Thunder.

"(Saturday night) we let up," said Hruska. "I called the time out and we settled down. They're an aggressive team and they can score so you don't want them to get on a roll. (Sunday), again we had a good lead and again they score a couple of goals to make it 7-5. There were lots of penalties and lots of odd man situations as well."

Hruska added that sticking to a game plan is key to beating the Huskies, and that's something he has attempted to instill in the players.

"I keep telling our guys that we skate well," he said. "We're a good skating team and if we play that way, other teams have a hard time keeping up with us. Onaping is more physical than we are and they like to play that style. If we get caught up in that then they have a better chance of beating us.

"That's all we preach to them is discipline, discipline, discipline," Hruska added. "It's easier said than done. It's hard because they're 14-year-old kids. They stand up for each other. If somebody pushes them, they're going to push back."

The Thunder got an outstanding performance from the line of Amadio, Sartoretto, and MacMillan who combined for 24 points, including 11 goals.

The Thunder return to action next weekend with a three-game series in Sudbury against the Wolves. The following weekend, the Thunder will finish off the road portion of their schedule in Timmins.

Next home action at the Rankin Arena for the Thunder will be a three game series against the Timmins Technosub Rangers on Feb. 11 and 12.