By Matt Stefano
After dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to the Blind River Beavers back on Tuesday night in Blind River, the Soo Thunderbirds were looking to get back on the winning track on Saturday night as they made a visit to Espanola for their first game of a home-and-home series against the Espanola Paper Kings.
On Saturday night in Espanola, the Soo Thunderbirds also welcomed back three players back into their lineup, including second-year forward Samuel Lake, who was out of the Thunderbirds lineup on Tuesday night due to an illness, rookie forward Jackson Truchan, who was out of the Thunderbirds lineup on Tuesday night due to an injury, and rookie defenceman Brodie McConnell-Barker, who missed the last eight games with the Thunderbirds due to getting ice time with the Ontario Hockey League’s Soo Greyhounds.
After skating scoreless through the first twenty minutes of play, the Thunderbirds then ended up scoring five goals in the final forty minutes, including four goals in the second period, as they went on to defeat the Espanola Paper Kings by a score of 5-1 at the Espanola Regional Recreation Complex in Espanola.
The win also gave the Thunderbirds their 30th victory of the season.
Brodie McConnell-Barker and Wyatt Marlow both led the way offensively for the Thunderbirds on Saturday night with a goal and two assists each while Daniel Beaupre and birthday boy Samuel Lake also had multi-point performances of their own, with a goal and an assist each.
Beaupre, who finished the night with a goal and an assist, opened the scoring on the power play just 24 seconds into the second period, which put the Thunderbirds up by a score of 1-0.
Lake, who turned 19-years-old on Saturday, scored his 5th goal of the season at the 10:21 mark of the second period, which at that time made the score 3-0 for the Soo.
Lake also drew an assist on Wyatt Marlow’s tally at the 18:40 mark of the second, which at that time made the score 4-1.
Alex Remenda had the other goal for the Thunderbirds on Saturday night while Jackson Truchan also got on the scoresheet with one assist.
Remenda’s goal, was a shorthanded tally at the 4:18 mark of the third period, which made the score 5-1 for the Soo.
Forward Lucas Signoretti had the lone goal for the Paper Kings on Saturday night with Joshua Rumolo picking up the lone assist.
With the Paper Kings trailing the Thunderbirds 3-0 with just over five minutes to go in the second period, Signoretti then notched his 30th goal of the season at 14:28, which at that time cut the Thunderbirds lead to 3-1.
Signoretti, who notched his 30th goal, also became the first player in franchise history to hit 30 goals in a single season.
Paper Kings goaltender Jake Marois gave up 4 goals on 31 shots, before being replaced in net by Creedon Dyck, who then gave up 1 goal on 13 shots the rest of the way.
Thunderbirds netminder Landon Miller made 35 saves for the victory.
With the win, the Thunderbirds have now improved their record to 30 wins, 11 losses, 3 overtime losses and 2 shootout losses, good for 65 points.
The Thunderbirds, who picked up their 30th win of the season, also hit the 30-win-plateau for the 20th time in franchise history.
Next action for the Thunderbirds will be on Sunday, February 12 at 2:00 p.m., which will be the second game of a home-and-home series against the Paper Kings at the John Rhodes.
NOTE
Sunday’s game against the Paper Kings is a rescheduled game from Wednesday, November 30.
The game against the Paper Kings back on Wednesday, November 30, was postponed due to many players on the Paper Kings battling the flu.
