By Matt Stefano
Landon Miller had a night to remember on Saturday night in Noelville.
On Saturday night, Soo Thunderbirds rookie goaltender and Soo Greyhounds 2022 2nd round pick Landon Miller recorded his first career NOJHL shutout, making 31 saves in a 6-0 victory over the French River Rapids at Noelville Arena.
Miller, who recorded his first career NOJHL shutout, also extended his winning streak to 7 games.
“Miller was great tonight,” said Soo Thunderbirds head coach Cole Jarrett. “He controlled the game when he needed to.”
“It feels amazing to keep winning,” added Miller, who now has an overall record 8 wins, 0 losses and 1 shootout loss between the pipes this season. “I owe plenty of credit to the guys for giving it their all in front of me tonight. I’m also having a great time so far this season and I’m looking to continue that.”
During Saturday night’s game, Thunderbirds forward Daniel Beaupre scored two goals and set up another, which gave him his first multi-point game in a Soo Thunderbirds uniform.
Since coming over to the Thunderbirds in a trade from the Timmins Rock back on September 19, Beaupre has found the back of the net 4 times and has set up 2 others in 11 games as a member of the Thunderbirds.
“Danny has been playing so well in the last week or so,” Jarrett said. “He’s finding his legs after missing sometime with an injury and it was nice to see him get rewarded tonight.”
“I feel like my play has been getting better everyday since I came over from Timmins,” Beaupre added. “I’m starting to develop some chemistry with some of the guys on this team and lately we’ve been finding each other and putting the puck in the back of the net. It also felt great to get a my first multi-point game in a T-Birds uniform tonight and my teammates did a great job of setting me up on both of my goals.”
Thunderbirds captain Brock Santa Maria also had a three-point game of his own on Saturday night, as he set up three goals for his first multi-point game of the season, while rookie defenceman Brodie McConnell-Barker finished the night with a goal and two helpers.
Jackson Truchan, Wyatt Marlow and Mitchell Daines (power play) had the other goals for the T-Birds on Saturday night while Kolby Fellinger, Samuel Lake and Ethan Novello all chipped in with one assist each.
Rapids goaltender Brady Dyer gave up 5 goals on 15 shots before being replaced in net by Ben Gustafson, who then gave up 1 goal on 19 shots the rest of the way.
The Thunderbirds, who shutout the Rapids 6-0 on Saturday night in Noelville, also handed the Rapids their second straight shutout loss.
Prior to Saturday night’s game, the Rapids dropped a 10-0 decision to the Greater Sudbury Cubs back on October 29 in Noelville.
“Our team did a great job of managing pucks tonight and we wanted to make sure we concluded this road trip with a victory,” said Jarrett, whose team was also coming off a 4-3 overtime loss against the Powassan Voodoos on Friday night in Powassan.
Next action for the Thunderbirds will be on Wednesday, November 9 at 7:00 p.m., when they will take on the Blind River Beavers at the John Rhodes Community Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.
A win by the Thunderbirds that night in regulation time would also move them into sole possession of second place in the NOJHL’s West Division standings.
FACT
On Saturday, November 5, the Thunderbirds blanked the French River Rapids by a score of 6-0 at Noelville Arena.
DID YOU KNOW?
The last time the Thunderbirds made a visit to Noelville Arena, was back on Sunday, February 27, 2022, when they also defeated them by a 6-0 score.
(Photo of Landon Miller credit to Bob Davies)
