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On the heels of a lopsided loss on the road against Elliot Lake earlier in the week, the Soo Thunderbirds returned home in a positive way on Friday night.
The team scored once in each period, outshooting the visitors by a 52-30 margin, in a 3-1 Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League victory over the French River Rapivs at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring 1:33 into the contest when Ethan Novello took a pass while alone in the slot from Lucas Whitehead and beat Rapids goaltender Ben Gustafson.
On the power play, French River tied the game in the opening minute of the second period as Matthew Campanella took a pass in the slot from Owen Ethier and proceeded to beat Thunderbirds goaltender Kolton Bourret from in close 43 seconds into the period.
The Thunderbirds used a power play goal of their own to retake the lead at 13:34 of the middle stanza.
Kaden Dundas took a pass in the left circle from Ryan Blackburn, moved toward the French River goal and beat Gustafson with a shot glove side to give the home team a 2-1 lead.
Ethan Raduy sealed the win for the Thunderbirds, scoring into an empty French River net in the final minute of regulation time.
Gustafson had a busy night in goal for the Rapids, stopping 49 shots in the loss.
Bourret made 29 saves at the other end of the ice.
Next up for the Thunderbirds is a road trip that will see the team take on the Hearst Lumberjacks on Thursday night.