Thunderbirds beat Vikings in one-sided affair

A big first period helped the Soo Thunderbirds cruise to a big win over the Elliot Lake Vikings in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action on Saturday night.

The Thunderbirds scored six times in the opening period en route to a 12-1 win at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

The home team scored three times in the opening five mintues of the contest, chasing Elliot Lake starting goaltender Sam Keene early on.

Harley Wardell opened the scoring 2:18, winning a race down the left wing and roofing a shot for his first NOJHL goal.

Samuel Lake then beat Keene a couple of shifts later before Thomas Degagne made it 3-0, ending Keene's night.

Coming right back, Colton McIntosh beat new Vikings goaltender Matthew Vahramian five-hole at 5:31.

Connor Stokes added his first NOJHL goal 10 minutes later.

Capping off the first period barrage with a late man advantage effort, Candon O’Neill made it 6-0 Thunderbirds as the game headed to the first intermission.

In the second period, Grayson Ebrahim banged in a rebound to make it 7-0, before Gabriel Manseau put Elliot Lake on the board as he came down the right wing and picked the corner on Thunderbirds goaltender Maverick Fletcher.

Countering, the Soo got later markers off the sticks of Quinn Myles, Jacob Smith and Wardell to put them comfortably in control after 40 minutes.

After Vahramian stymied Ebrahim on a third period penalty shot, Lake added an 11th on the night for the Soo while Callum McAuley capped off the romp.

The win sees the Thunderbirds improve to 21-9-2-1, while with the loss, the Vikings fall to 5-23-1-4.

Lake had three points in the win with two goals and an assist while Degagne, McAuley, O'Neill, and Ebrahim also had three-point nights with a goal and two assists each.

Smith, McIntosh, and Myles added one of each and James Legler, Charlie Munroe, and Adam Kukko assisted on a pair of goals each for the Thunderbirds.

Fletcher made 25 saves for the Sault.

After entering the game in relief of Keene, Vahramian stopped 55 of the 64 shots he face in just over 55 minutes of work as the Thunderbirds outshot the Vikings 69-26.