With just how tight the standings are in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League’s West Division; it was fitting that overtime played a role.
In a battle for second place in the standings, the Blind River Beavers beat the Soo Thunderbirds 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre in a meeting between teams battling for second in the division.
A goal in the final seconds of the third period forced the extra frame where Michael Gallagher was the hero for the Beavers.
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring late in the opening period when Ethan Novello redirected a pass in tight past Charlie Burns in the Blind River goal after Wyatt Marlow took a pass in the left circle from Tyler Boudreau at the right point.
Caleb Minns tied the game for the Beavers 1:03 into the second period when he converted a pass from Trevor Zimmer below the goalline.
The Thunderbirds took a 2-1 lead at 12:20 of the second period when Dharan Cap redirected a pass in close from Jackson Truchan in the right circle past Burns on the power play.
Just under two minutes into the third, Boudreau made it 3-1 for the locals. The blueliner took a pass from Daniel Beaupre, skated into the slot and split a pair of Blind River players before sliding a backhand past Burns.
Michael Gallagher made it 3-2 when he took a pass from Matthew Green just inside the blueline after a Thunderbirds turnover, skated into the slot and beat Thunderbirds goaltender Landon Miller glove side to cut the Sault lead back to one goal.
Ethan Pegg tried the game with 6.4 seconds to go. Pegg took a pass in the slot from Green below the goalline and beat Miller glove side.
Gallagher ended the game with 40 seconds to go in overtime as he scored on a rebound in the slot after Joshua Thompson’s initial sharp-able shot was stopped by Miller.
Boudreau finished the night with a goal and an assist while Marlow and Beaupre had a pair of helpers each for the Thunderbirds.
Miller made 23 saves.
In addition to the two-point night for Gallagher, Pegg finished the night with a goal and an assist.
Minns and Green also had two-point nights with a pair of assists each for the Beavers.
Burns stopped 28 shots.
With the win, the Beavers improve to 13-4-1-2 and move two points ahead of the Thunderbirds in the standings.
The Thunderbirds record falls to 12-7-2-1 with the loss.
The Thunderbirds, who have three wins and a pair of overtime losses in their last five games, return to action on Saturday night at home against the Cochrane Crunch.