By Matt Stefano
If you want to win hockey games, you need to find a way to score goals and get plenty of shots on net.
But in this year’s Centennial Cup tournament, both of those things have seemed to be a problem for the Soo Thunderbirds.
On Monday afternoon, in their third game of round robin action at the Centennial Cup tournament, the Soo Thunderbirds record fell to 0 wins and 3 losses as they got shutout by a score of 4-0 to the CCHL’s Ottawa Jr. A Senators at Affinity Place in Estevan, Saskatchewan.
The Thunderbirds, whose record fell to 0 wins and 3 losses on Monday afternoon, have now been outscored 14-2 in their first three games of the Centennial Cup tournament while being outshot 104-44 overall.
“So far in this tournament we’ve been struggling to generate zone time and get pucks past these goalies,” said Soo Thunderbirds rookie forward Cooper Foster, who was named the player of the game for the Soo Thunderbirds on Monday afternoon. “We had chances and opportunities to score, but we just haven’t been capitalizing on them like the other teams are.”
After skating scoreless after twenty minutes of play, it would then be the Senators getting on the board first just 1:45 into the second period, courtesy of Isaac Landry’s first goal of the tournament from Jacob Code and Philippe Jacques, which put the Senators up 1-0 after two periods of play.
Landry, who scored the opening goal of the game on Monday afternoon, also found the back of the net for just the second time this season.
The Senators would then take a 2-0 lead just 57 seconds into the third period, courtesy of Simon Isabelle’s first goal of the tournament from Massimo Gentile and Sam Edwards.
Then, at the 10:39 mark of the third period, it would then be forward Vincent Velocci getting first goal of the tournament from Julian Recine, which put the Senators up by a 3-0 count.
Just 1:34 after Velocci’s goal, it would then be forward Simon Isabelle getting his second goal of the game and second goal of the tournament from Massimo Gentile and Alexander Park, which made the score 4-0 for the Senators.
Thunderbirds netminder Noah Metivier gave up 4 goals on 30 shots in the loss while Senators netminder William Desmaris made 13 saves for the shutout.
Eight of Desmarais’s 13 saves also came in the third period.
“In the third period we really focused on getting pucks to the net and getting bodies in front (of the net),” Foster said. “In the third period we did a better job getting pucks into their zone and using our forecheck.”
Desmarais, who picked up a shutout for the Senators on Monday afternoon, also became the first goaltender to record a shutout at this year’s Centennial Cup tournament.
“Desmarais played great, but we didn’t test him enough like we wanted to,” Foster said. “We need to get more shots on net and score more goals.”
The Thunderbirds, who now have an 0-3 record at this year’s Centennial Cup tournament, will now be back in action for their fourth game of round robin action on Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m., when they take on the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings at Affinity Place in Estevan Saskatchewan.
