A pair of goals early in the second period helped the visiting Soo Thunderbirds to 4-2 Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League victory over the Greater Sudbury Cubs at Countryside Arena in Sudbury on Sept. 30.
The Cubs' Thursday loss came after the Thunderbirds stormed back from a three-goal deficit in the third period on Sunday at the John Rhodes Community Centre in Sault Ste. Marie to beat the Cubs 5-4.
The Thunderbirds opened the scoring when Lincoln Moore grabbed a turnover behind the Sudbury goal and hit Cooper Foster in the slot. The Ottawa 67’s prospect proceeded to beat Cubs netminder Jake Marois to take a 1-0 lead.
Brock Santa Maria made it 2-0 with just under four minutes to go in the frame when he took a feed from Samuel Lake and beat Marois high from the right circle.
Sudbury got on the board with 1:12 to go in the period when Kyler Campbell beat Thunderbirds goaltender Noah Zeppa with a shot from the slot after Seth Coulter’s initial shot from the top of the left circle was deflected in close.
The visitors increased the lead to 4-1 early in the second period.
Michael Chaffay restored the two-goal lead just 41 seconds into the frame when he broke down the right wing and tried to hit Tyson Doucette going to the net. The pass deflected off a Sudbury defender and past Marois to make it 3-1.
Just 2:11 later, the Thunderbirds went up 4-1 as Kolby Fellinger’s shot from the top of the left circle deflected past Marois off the stick of Doucette.
Sudbury would cut the lead to 4-2 after Zeppa misplayed the puck in the slot and Mathieu Morin capitalized with the Cubs shorthanded.
Zeppa finished the night with 29 saves while Marois stopped 24 shots for the Cubs.
With three wins and three losses, the Cubs are sitting second in the West Division behind the Thunderbirds. Greater Sudbury is back in action on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. on the road against the Blind River Beavers. The Cubs then return home for an Oct. 3 tilt at Countryside Sports Complex against the visiting Soo Eagles. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
