Special teams were crucial for the Soo Thunderbirds on Saturday night.
The Thunderbirds scored three times on the power play and held the Timmins Rock off the scoresheet in five man advantage opportunities in a 5-1 Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League victory at the John Rhodes Community Centre.
Timmins opened the scoring as Jack Anderson beat Thunderbirds goaltender Kolton Bourret with a shot from the left circle high glove side at 12:51 of the opening period.
The Thunderbirds evened the score with 1:28 to go in the opening period as Kelsey Ouellet scored his 14th goal of the season, beating Timmins goaltender Dryden Riley from the left side.
The home team took the lead five minutes into the second period when Samuel Lake scored the Thunderbirds first power play goal of the night. Lake beat Riley in tight on a one-timer after a pass from Ouellet below the goalline.
Ouellet picked up his second goal of the night with 5:36 to go in the period as he scored on a rebound in tight after a Kolby Fellinger point shot was wide of the Timmins goal.
The Thunderbirds then sealed the win with a pair of power play goals in the third period.
Lake added his second goal of the night at 12:40 as he scored on a rebound after a shot by Silas Crawford was stopped initially.
Jonathan Sonedecker capped off the scoring just under four minutes later as he beat Riley with a shot from the left wing.
Ouellet finished the night with two goals and an assist to lead the Thunderbirds attack offensively.
In addition to Lake’s two goals, Crawford also had a pair of points in the victory, assisting on a pair of Sault goals.
Bourret made 17 saves.
Riley made 39 saves for the Rock in the loss.
The Thunderbirds, who have struggled with injuries this season, lost defenceman Candon O’Neill due to a shoulder injury in the opening period after he took a hit in the Thunderbirds zone.
With the win, the Thunderbirds improve to 29-13-4-1 on the season while the Rock fall to 33-14-2-0.
