Thunderbirds prevail in a shootout

The Soo Thunderbirds nearly turned a 4-1 lead into a loss.

The Abitibi Eskimos rallied to tie the game but some sharp shooting in a shootout allowed the Thunderbirds to grab a 6-5 win on Friday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

By the 17:05 mark of the second period, the Thunderbirds held a 4-1 advantage as Kyle Johnson scored twice on the power play while Nick Minardi added another with the man advantage and Tyler Gendron one at even strength.

After Johnson's second goal, the Eskimos scored twice in 1:28 before Matt Conway put the locals ahead 5-3 on a goal three seconds before the buzzer.

Cody Fox and Dan Dube scored for Abitibi in the third period to tie the game at 5-5.

After five minutes of overtime settled nothing, the teams took part in a shootout where the Thunderbirds outscored Abitibi 2-0 to claim the win. Johnson and Brett Perlini provided the scoring.

Zac McNally and Gendron picked up two assists each while Conway also assisted on a goal. Travis O'Brien stopped 26 of 31 shots for the win while the Soo fired 27 shots at Abitibi.

Dube scored another goal for Abitibi in the game while Russel Morin also notched a pair.

The Thunderbirds now sit at 4-2 in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League with the team taking a two week break from league play.

*** SOO INDIANS:

Three goals in the second period helped lift the Manitoulin Islanders to a 5-3 win over the Soo Indians in Little Current on Friday night.

The loss for the Indians ended the team's four-game winning streak to start the season.

Sean Farley, Nick Novak and Nick Zilka scored for the Indians while Justin Hogan scored two goals for the Islanders with singles going to Corey MacGillis, Chris Shawanda and Jeff Mussen.

THUNDERBIRDS GAME PHOTOS WILL BE ADDED.