By Matt Stefano
Since signing with the Soo Thunderbirds earlier this month, rookie defenceman Brodie McConnell-Barker has recorded at least one point all three of his games played with the Soo Thunderbirds this season.
And on Tuesday night in Blind River, his point-scoring streak continued.
On Tuesday night, Soo Thunderbirds rookie defenceman Brodie McConnell-Barker extended his point-scoring streak to four games, as he recorded one goal to help lead the Soo Thunderbirds to a 4-1 win over the Blind River Beavers at Blind River Community Centre in Blind River.
“I’m just trying to improve everyday,” McConnell-Barker said. “I’m taking it one day at a time and I want to help this team as much as I can.”
“McConnell-Barker plays the game with his head up and the first thing you notice about him is that he loves to have the puck on his stick and make plays,” added Soo Thunderbirds head coach Cole Jarrett.
With the T-Birds trailing 1-0 late in the first period, McConnell-Barker tied things up on the power play with his 3rd goal of the season at 17:16 from Dharan Cap and Michael Chaffay, which made the score 1-1 heading into the second.
McConnell-Barker, who scored his 3rd goal of the season on the power play, also moved into a tie with Kaden Dundas for the team-lead in goals among defensemen.
“I think his (McConnell-Barker) decision making has gotten better every game and it’s given him something to build on early in the season,” Jarrett added.
With the game tied 1-1 almost four minutes into the third period, it would then be the T-Birds taking the lead at the 3:50 mark of the third, courtesy of Jackson Truchan’s 2nd goal of the season from Youssef Chaouachi, which gave the T-Birds their first lead of the game.
The T-Birds would then take a two-goal lead 9:09 later, as newly signed forward Wyatt Marlow would then get his first goal of the season, unassisted, which made the score 3-1 for the Soo.
Marlow, who scored his first goal of the season on Tuesday night, also gave himself his first goal in just his second game played.
The T-Birds would then make it a three-goal-lead with just 3:35 left to go in regulation, courtesy of Ethan Novello’s 2nd goal of the season from Ryan Blackburn, which made the score 4-1 for the visitors.
Novello, who scored his 2nd goal of the season on Tuesday night, also set his career-high for most goals scored in a single season.
Forward Joshua Thompson had the lone goal for the Beavers on Tuesday night, which came at the 14:04 mark of the first period from Michael Gallagher and Matthew Green.
Thompson, who had the lone goal for the Beavers, also extended his point-scoring streak to eight games.
Beavers goaltender Gavin Disano, who entered Tuesday night’s game with a perfect 6-0 record, gave up 4 goals on 31 shots in his first loss of the season, while Thunderbirds rookie netminder Landon Miller made 27 saves for his second win in just his 3rd game played.
Miller, who made 27 saves on Tuesday night, was also named second star of the game.
With the win, the T-Birds have now improved their record 5 wins, 6 losses and 1 shootout loss while the Beavers record has now fallen to 10 wins and 2 losses.
The T-Birds, who defeated the Beavers 4-1 on Tuesday night in Blind River, also handed the Beavers their first home loss of the season.
“It was a great effort tonight by everyone,” Jarrett said. “The Beavers are a good team and they came at us hard early, but I thought we found our legs in the second period and started dictating the pace.”
“The boys were buzzing tonight,” McConnell-Barker added. “We had a lot of great efforts from everyone and we played as a team and won this game as a team.”
Next action for the T-Birds will be this Friday at 7:00 p.m., when they will take on the Timmins Rock at the John Rhodes Community Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.
The Beavers, who are currently ranked No. 12 in the country this week, moved up three spots after being ranked No. 15 one week ago.
Marlow, who scored the insurance-marker for the T-Birds on Tuesday night, was also named as the game’s first star.
