By Matt Stefano
After defeating the Timmins Rock 3-2 at the John Rhodes Community Centre this past Sunday and extending their winning streak to three games, the Soo Thunderbirds kicked off a three-game road trip on Friday night as they were in Hearst to take on the Lumberjacks.
Friday night’s game also marked the debut of newly acquired forward Gage Stephney, who came over to the Thunderbirds in a trade with the St. Catherines Falcons.
Stephney also played with the Thunderbirds back in the 2016-2017 season, before being traded to the Trenton Golden Hawks during the 2017 offseason.
Despite outshooting the Lumberjacks 43-22 overall, the Thunderbirds had their three-game winning streak snapped on Friday night as they dropped a 3-0 decision to the Hearst Lumberjacks at Claude Larose Arena.
All three Lumberjacks goals were scored in the third period.
Bradley Golant scored once on the power play and added an empty netter for the Lumberjacks while defenceman Alec Johnson also had a two-point night with a pair of assists.
Daniel Fisher had the other goal for the Lumberjacks while Cameron Clark, Maxim Lacroix, Jake Desando and Max Griffioen all chipped in with one assist each.
Vancouver, British Columbia native Nicholas Tallarico made forty three saves for his first career NOJHL shutout while Thunderbirds goaltender William Anderson gave up two goals on twenty one shots in the loss.
The Thunderbirds will be back in action on Saturday night, when they visit Cochrane to take on the Crunch at 7:00 p.m. at the Tim Horton Event Centre.
