SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – A three-goal effort from Owen Murphy, along with the shutout goaltending of Ryan Hicks, sent the Soo Thunderbirds on their way to a 5-0 victory over the Blind River Beavers Sunday afternoon in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at John Rhodes Community Centre.
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring on the afternoon, five and a half minutes into the contest, as Landon Hill centred a play towards the net that clipped off a Beavers’ defender and skipped in.
With the tally, Hill extended a point streak to seven straight outings.
Adding another later in the frame, Murphy shovelled in a Rhys Bonvie feed to put Sault Ste. Marie up by a pair.
More from the T-Birds in the second stanza, saw them tack on two more to extend their lead to four after 40 minutes.
Gavin Killoran made it 3-0 at 6:15 when he finished off a splendid dash down the left wing, and subsequent crisp pass over, from Deven Jones-McDonald.
They then clicked on a man advantage eight minutes later with Murphy getting the last touch on a double deflection, following a low-level attempt to the target from defenceman Declan Gallivan, that was initially tipped by Jones-McDonald.
Heading to the third period, the Thunderbirds got another while a skater as Murphy got a piece of a Gallivan wrister from distance for his third of the day and initial NOJHL hat trick.
The shutout for Hicks was his second of the season to help the Soo finish up at 32-15-3-2.
With the loss, Beavers conclude their 2025-26 campaign at 17-31-0-4.
Up next for the Thunderbirds will be a quarter-final playoff series against the Timmins Rock.
