As far as back-and-forth hockey games go, Saturday’s Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League contest between the Soo Thunderbirds and Blind River Beavers would certainly fall into that category.
The two clubs traded goals throughout with the Beavers eventually securing a 5-4 shootout win over the Thunderbirds in game three of the COVID Cup at the Blind River Community Centre.
For the Thunderbirds, it wasn’t a perfect game, but it was one they hope to learn from.
“It wasn’t out best game, but when you’re playing playoff hockey and you go on the road, you have to give them credit for not giving up,” Thunderbirds coach Denny Lambert said.
“It’s playoff hockey,” Lambert added. “We have to learn from that game that it’s hard. (Blind River’s) not going to go away. They want to win and we want to win. It’s a good lesson. It’s another part of the game that we’re going to learn something from.”
Blind River took a 1-0 lead 22 seconds into the contest as defenceman Ethan Pegg sent the puck into the slot and it proceeded to deflect off the skate of a Sault player and past goaltender Alex Bugeja.
The Thunderbirds got on the board with a shorthanded goal as Noah Boman beat Beavers goaltender Gavin Disano with a shot from the right faceoff circle stick side at 8:28.
The Beavers would take a 2-1 lead into the second period as Noah Minns capitalized on the power play at 13:34.
Minns scored on a rebound after Bugeja stopped the initial shot on the play by Spencer Kennedy.
The Thunderbirds tied the game 32 seconds into the second period as Ty Zachary got his fourth goal of the year as he redirected a one-touch pass from Kurtis Rogers at the end of a three-way passing play that was started by Parker Morgan.
Pegg put the Beavers ahead 3-2 with a power play goal at 7:30 of the second period when he beat Bugeja on a shot from the left circle through traffic.
The visitors would take a 4-3 lead into the third thanks to goals by Rogers and Boman.
Rogers tied the game at 10:38 when he converted a cross-slot feed from Andrew Malek and then Boman put the Thunderbirds ahead at 14:41 one a shot from the slot after taking a feed from defenceman Dylan Parsons.
Devin Mauro tied the game for Blind River at 11:08 of the third as he jumped on a loose puck in the slot and beat Bugeja high glove side.
In the shootout, after Jacob Kelly for the Beavers and Avery Rebek for the Thunderbirds traded goals, Mauro sealed the win for the home team as he beat Bugeja high stick side to end the game.
With a short turnaround heading into game four, Lambert noted taking the late goal by Mauro to tie the game as something the Thunderbirds can learn from heading into Sunday.
“We have to learn to think about what we did wrong, what we can do better, and move on because we play tomorrow (Sunday) at 4 o’clock,” Lamber said. “The turnaround is so quick; we can’t have negativity.
“They score that last goal to tie it up, it’s another part of the game where you’ve got a one-goal lead with five minutes left, you have to learn to close those games,” Lambert added.
The series is set to resume Sunday afternoon for game four at the Blind River Community Centre. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m.