Thunderbirds whip Islanders in playoff opener

The Soo Thunderbirds dominated the Mantoulin Islanders at both ends of the ice to open the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs with a convincing 8-0 victory on Tuesday night at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

Game two in the best-of-seven quarterfinal series goes Wednesday at the Rhodes at 7:30 p.m.

The Thunderbirds spent the majority of the game buzzing around the Islanders zone and defensively limited Manitoulin to few quality scoring chances. Despite the lopsided score, Islanders goaltender Billy Stone made several quality saves to keep the score from getting totally out of hand.

"We executed our game plan and moved the puck well," said Thunderbirds head coach Toots Kovacs. "We took the puck to the net and got a lot of shots on young Billy Stone. But really, the score could have been a lot worse but Stone made some fantastic saves throughout the game.

"They had their best chances in the third period but we wanted to come out in that period and not give them any fire for tomorrow."

Chris Towell scored a pair of power play goals and added an assist for the Thunderbirds while Aaron Assinewei also notched a pair. Drew Jarrett scored once and set up two others while Mike McMillan and Ryan Maunu each added a goal and an assist. Mark Thorburn rounded out the scoring while Tyler Gendron, the game's first star, recorded five assists and Justin Shelleby two.

Michael Maulucci picked up the shutout in goal and will return to the pipes for another start in game two.

"I'm happy for Maulucci to get the shutout and he is going to go again for us tomorrow. He's my guy right now. But we are going to take it a game at a time and go from there," said Kovacs.

The series will shift to Little Current for games three and four on Friday and Saturday. A fifth game, if necessary, is scheduled for Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Rhodes.

*** AROUND THE NOJHL:

In North Bay, the Skyhawks scored twice in the first period and held on for a 3-1 victory over the Abitibi Eskimos in game one of their series. Tavis Holden led North Bay with a goal and an assist while single goals were supplied by Ken Peroff and Justin Roy. Sault product Adam Combs replied for Abitibi.

In Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Ryan Murtaugh scored the game winner 5:33 into the third period as the Northern Michigan Black Bears held off the Blind River Beavers for a 2-1 win in the series opener. Steve Kruszewski also scored for the Bears while Shane Bailey replied for the Beavers. Tony Stoehr stopped 29 shots in goal for the win while Andre Laperriere faced 39 shots in the loss.

*** NOJHL QUARTERFINALS:

2. SOO THUNDERBIRDS vs. 7. MANITOULIN

(Soo leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Tues. Mar. 14 - Soo 8 Manitoulin 0 Game 2 - Wed. Mar. 15 - Manitoulin vs. Soo Game 3 - Fri. Mar. 17 - Soo vs. Manitoulin Game 4 - Sat. Mar. 18 - Soo vs. Mantoulin * Game 5 - Mon. Mar. 20 - Manitoulin vs. Soo * Game 6 - Wed. Mar. 22 - Soo vs. Manitoulin * Game 7 - Thu. Mar. 23 - Manitoulin vs. Soo

3. NORTH BAY vs. 6. ABITIBI

(North Bay leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Tues. Mar. 14 - North Bay 3 Abitibi 1 Game 2 - Wed. Mar. 15 - North Bay vs. Abitibi Game 3 - Fri. Mar. 17 - Abitibi vs. North Bay Game 4 - Sat. Mar. 18 - North Bay vs. Abitibi * Game 5 - Tues. Mar. 21 - Abitbi vs. North Bay * Game 6 - Thu. Mar. 23 - North Bay vs. Abitibi * Game 7 - Fri. Mar. 24 - Abitibi vs. North Bay

4. NORTHERN MICHIGAN vs. 5. BLIND RIVER

(Northern Michigan leads series 1-0)

Game 1 - Tues. Mar. 14 - Northern Michigan 2 Blind River 1 Game 2 - Thu. Mar. 16 - Northern Michigan vs. Blind River Game 3 - Sat. Mar. 18 - Blind River vs. Northern Michigan Game 4 - Sun. Mar. 19 - Northern Michigan vs. Blind River * Game 5 - Tue. Mar. 21 - Blind River vs. Northern Michigan * Game 6 - Thu. Mar. 23 - Northern Michigan vs. Blind River * Game 7 - Fri. Mar. 24 - Blind River vs. Northern Michigan

1. SUDBURY - bye

(* = if necessary)

***