By Matt Stefano
As we know, the Kirkland Lake Gold Miners will be hosting the 2016 Dudley Hewitt Cup Tournament, but with the T-Birds heading into Friday on a ten game winning streak, the No. 3 ranked team in the nation visited the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex for the first time this season.
In what was a night where penalty killing stood out, the Soo Thunderbirds went a perfect ten for ten on the penalty kill and won their eleventh straight with a 3-0 win over the Gold Miners.
Nathan Hebert led the way for the T-Birds with a goal and two assists while goaltender Nathan Warren made eighteen saves for his second straight shutout, becoming the first T-Bird goalie to record back to back shutouts in a regular season since Brian Kment did back in January of 2014. Warren was also named the NOJHL’s Gongshow Gear goaltender of the month for October, posting a 1.00 goals against average and a .953 save percentage wth two shutouts to go with it through six games.
Jaren Bellini and Brett Jeffries had the other goals for the Soo while Aiden Salerno set up one on the night.
Gold Miners goalie Victor-Oliver Courchesne made twenty four stops in the loss.
The Thunderbirds continue their weekend road trip Saturday night in Timmins vs the Rock at 7:30 p.m. from the McIntyre Arena.
NOTES: Former T-Bird and Soo Greyhounds defenceman Colin Miller, notched his first National Hockey League goal for the Boston Bruins on Tuesday in a 5-3 loss to the Dallas Stars. Also, Soo Thunderbirds pink game worn jerseys are now up for auction on the Soo Thunderbirds Facebook page. Starting bid is at $50.00 and must go up by at least $5.00 or more on the next bid.
