By Matt Stefano
For the third straight game, the Soo Thunderbirds played more than three periods of hockey.
And for the third straight game, the Soo Thunderbirds came out with the victory!
On Friday night, the Soo Thunderbirds picked up an overtime victory as they defeated the Soo Eagles by a score of 4-3 in overtime at the John Rhodes Community Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.
The Thunderbirds, who picked up an overtime victory against the Soo Eagles on Friday night, were also coming off a 2-1 shootout win against the Blind River Beavers back on Wednesday night in the Soo.
Prior to that, the Thunderbirds also picked up a 4-3 overtime victory against the Hearst Lumberjacks back on Sunday afternoon in the same place (The Soo).
“To be honest, winning is always fun, no matter when or where it is,” said Soo Thunderbirds assistant coach Anthony Miller, who ran the bench with his cousin Joey (Miller) tonight (Friday) as head coach Cole Jarrett and assistant coaches Jamie Henderson and Jeremy Rebek were all away due to other work commitments. “The guys have been working hard and they’ve been finding a way to win. Unfortunately I haven’t been here the past couple games, so Cole (Jarrett) is definitely the guy to be inquiring about how the team has been the last few games, but we have a great at group of guys in the dressing room and they always work hard and they always find a way to win.”
With the game scoreless almost halfway through the opening period, the Eagles then scored two goals just 1:12 apart, which quickly turned a 0-0 game into a 2-0 Eagles lead.
At the 9:48 mark of the first, it would be forward Chase Tallaire getting his 7th goal of the season from Nolan Hendry, which put the Eagles up 1-0.
The Eagles would then take a 2-0 lead at the 11:00 mark of the first, as forward Jack Paweski would notch his 2nd goal of the season from Alex Freund and Michael Starmonski.
Despite outshooting the Eagles 17-12 in the opening period, the Thunderbirds trailed by a score of 2-0.
“The energy unfortunately just wasn’t there (in the first period),” Miller said. “We couldn’t find our way, but after the first intermission, the boys came ready to play.”
With the Thunderbirds trailing the Eagles 2-0 almost five and a half minutes into the second, the Thunderbirds would then get a couple of quick goals of their own just 49 seconds apart, which quickly turned a 2-0 Eagles lead into a 2-2 tie.
At the 5:24 mark of the second, it would be Thunderbirds forward Daniel Beaupre getting his 5th goal of the season from Kaden Dundas and Youssef Chaouachi, which cut the Eagles lead to 2-1.
Then, at the 6:13 mark of the second, it would be Thunderbirds forward Wyatt Marlow getting his 4th goal of the season from Ethan Novello, which tied the game up at two.
“During the first intermission, the boys looked back at what they were did wrong during the first period” Miller said. “We had two quick breakdowns in the first period unfortunately, but we just found a way to rebound in the second period. The Soo Eagles are a skilled hockey team, but we did a good job coming back from 2-0 deficit.”
With the game tied 2-2 with under seven minutes to go in the second, the Thunderbirds then got their first lead of the game at the 13:17 mark, as forward Michael Chaffay would notch his 5th goal of the season from Dharan Cap and Youssef Chaouachi, which put the Thunderbirds ahead by a score of 3-2.
With the Thunderbirds down a man with just over four minutes to go in the second, the Eagles would then tie things up on the power play at the 15:54 mark, courtesy of Bryce Grandboise’s 2nd goal of the season from Colin Handy and Nolan Hendry, which made the score 3-3 heading into the third.
With neither team finding the back of the net in the third period, the Thunderbirds were then headed into overtime for the third straight game.
And on Friday night, it would be a player from Michigan getting the overtime goal against the Soo Michigan team.
After having his 7-game point-scoring streak snapped back on Wednesday night, rookie forward and Farmington Hills, Michigan native Jackson Truchan ended up being the hero in overtime just 1:45 in from Wyatt Marlow and Kaden Dundas, which gave the Thunderbirds a 4-3 overtime victory against the Soo Eagles.
Marlow, who drew an assist on Truchan’s overtime tally, was also the overtime hero in the Thunderbirds 4-3 overtime victory against the Hearst Lumberjacks back on Sunday afternoon in the Soo.
“It was a fantastic goal,” Miller said. “Truchan was set up well on that goal, and him, Marlow and Dundas were all great on the ice during that shift. We’re happy that Truchan scored that overtime goal for us tonight and we’re definitely going to take the two points.”
“It’s always special to come out here at the John Rhodes and get a win in front of the home crowd,” said Truchan, who now has 7 goals in 12 games played with the Thunderbirds. “It’s just good to keep this streak going and we’re just going to keep rolling. This was the first time ever that I’ve scored an overtime goal, so it’s definitely special for me as well.”
Eagles goaltender Logan Raffaele gave up 4 goals on 43 shots in the loss while Thunderbirds netminder Landon Miller made 27 saves for the victory.
With the win, the Thunderbirds have now improved their record to 9 wins, 6 losses and 1 shootout loss, good for 19 points, and have now hopped over the Espanola Paper Kings for third place in the NOJHL’s West Division standings.
Next action for the Thunderbirds will be on Wednesday, October 16 at 7:00 p.m., when they will take on the Elliot Lake Red Wings at the John Rhodes Community Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.
THE MILLERS
With the absence of head coach Cole Jarrett and assistant coaches Jamie Henderson and Jeremy Rebek, assistant coaches Anthony and Joey Miller were the only two guys behind the bench for the Thunderbirds during Friday night’s game against the Soo Eagles.
On Friday night, the Miller Cousins (Anthony and Joey) picked up a victory together behind bench while Thunderbirds goaltender and Soo Greyhounds 2022 2nd round pick Landon Miller picked up the victory in net.
LUCKY SEVENS
During Friday night’s game, Thunderbirds rookie forward Jackson Truchan scored his 7th goal of the season in overtime while Thunderbirds third-year forward Ethan Novello recorded his 7th point of the season, thanks to his assist on Wyatt Marlow’s goal in the second period.
Truchan, who scored his 7th goal of the season, now has 7 goals in his first 12 games played with Thunderbirds.
The Farmington Hills, Michigan native also wears No. 7 on the back of his jersey.
Novello, who picked up his 7th point of the season on Friday night, tied his career-high for most points in a single season.
Last season in 2021-2022, Novello had 7 points (all assists) in 32 regular season games.
Before that, Novello, put up 3 points (1 goal and 2 assists) in 17 games during his rookie season in 2020-2021.
OH, HENDRY!
On Friday night, Soo Eagles rookie forward Nolan Hendry set up two goals, which turned out to be his first career multi-point game.
Hendry, who set up two goals on Friday night, now has 6 points in his first 13 games played this season with the Eagles.
SMITTY IN THE AHL
Looking back behind the bench now, on Friday night, former Soo Thunderbirds head coach Jordan Smith picked up his first win as an AHL assistant coach as the Springfield Thunderbirds defeated the Belleville Senators by a score of 5-2 at the CAA Arena in Belleville.
Smith and the Thunderbirds have now improved their record to 1 win and 3 losses on the season.
(Photo credit to Matt Stefano)
