Photos: Bob Davies
SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – A Callum McAuley tally in the third period was the difference as the Soo Thunderbirds clipped the Greater Sudbury Cubs 3-2 at the John Rhodes Community Centre on Friday night.
After a scoreless opening frame, the Cubs opened the scoring on an odd-man rush as Ben Lacroix chipped home a feed from Sam Assiniwai which beat the outstretched Tbirds starter Kolton Bourret for a 1-0 lead midway through the contest.
However, the TBirds responded on the next shift as Kelsey Ouellet went upstairs on a rebound from a Callum McAuley shot which made it 1-1 at 10:57 of the second.
The Cubs took the lead again just past the 7-minute mark of the third period when Assiniwai intercepted a bad TBirds clearing pass and beat Bourret upstairs for a 2-1 lead.
The Thunderbirds fought back right away as again it was Kelsey Ouellet putting a rebound past Cubs starter Noah Metivier to even things at 2-2 just over 30 seconds later.
The Thunderbirds got the game-winner on a scramble in front of the Cubs net, as Callum McAuley put it past Metivier for his 9th of the campaign at 10:53 of the third.
The Cubs put on a push in the final minutes but they were unable to find the equalizer.
Kolton Bourret got the win in goal for the Thunderbirds as he turned away 29 shots for the win, while the Cubs Noah Metivier suffered the loss making 43 saves.
The Thunderbirds victory gives them a split in a home-and-home series which started Thursday night in a 4-3 win for the Cubs in Sudbury.
The Thunderbirds win improves their record to 23-11-2-1 while the Cubs 10 game regulation unbeaten string was broken as the Cubs move to 31-8-1-1 on the season.
