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In certain competitive situations a loss can feel almost as gratifying as a win.
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The Soo Thunderbirds rallied for five goals in the third period, eventually losing 7-6 in a shootout to the Soo Eagles in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League action at the John Rhodes Community Centre on Sunday afternoon.
Kaden Dundas tied the game 6-6 with 1.4 seconds left in the game after Kelsey Ouellet’s shot from the left wing bounced off Eagles goaltender Gabe Rosek and right into the path of a hard-charging Dundas for the backside tap in.
Andrew Gibson, Zane Burleigh, Samuel Lake and Cooper Foster scored the other goals in the third. Three of the five goals came on the powerplay.
The eventual game-winner came off the stick of Eagles leading scorer Chase Tallaire, his shot getting past Thunderbirds goalie Noah Metivier on the first shot of the shootout for either side.
Still, a loss almost feels like a win for the Thunderbirds.
“In the first 40 minutes we weren’t playing well, we were pretty tired from two games prior, short on bodies in those games as well but we came in after the second and decided to give it our all, just keep positive and we ended up scoring five,” Thunderbirds forward Cole Delarosbil said. “It was a crazy come back; it’s just unfortunate we couldn’t win it in the shootout.”
Thunderbirds head coach Cole Jarrett noted the rally shows the true grit of a team playing its third game in as many days.
“When we’re playing the right way we are fun to watch and it’s hard when you’re tired, when you’ve got three games in three days, you’ve got a short lineup, it’s hard to play the right way but good teams find a way and we keep finding ways to keep themselves in games or win games,” Jarrett said. “We weren’t able to get the win but it’s nice to get that one point and head into the next week and feel good about ourselves.”
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The T-birds started off the month of November with a 4-1 win over the Elliot Lake Red Wings on Friday night and followed up with a 5-4 overtime win over the Blind River Beavers on Saturday night.
The only downside was how the club found itself on the wrong end of a five-goal deficit.
The Thunderbirds were down 2-0 after the first period, finally getting on the board as Gibson scored his first of the game, a power-play goal at 2:47 of the second period.
Less than five minutes later Thunderbirds forward Noah Aboflan received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for head contact at 7:27 after he delivered a thunderous hit near the Eagles blue line.
From there the game unraveled as the Eagles potted three in 3:11–one goal on the five-minute major–making the score 5-1, while adding another at 17:38 to assume a five-goal lead.
Jarrett called a timeout after the fourth goal and was an uplifting sort, imploring his team to stay engaged despite the situation.
“At certain points in the game you may get rattled and you’ve got to stay within the structure, you’ve got to stay disciplined because you don’t know what’s going to happen in the end,” Jarrett said. “It was a tough second period, there’s no doubt about it, but the boys didn’t fold and go home.”
Garnering five of a possible six points puts the Thunderbirds in a first-place tie with the Powassan Voodoos for top spot in the NOJHL, both teams with 27 points in 17 games played.
Jarrett hopes the remainder of the season isn’t as turbulent, injuries and suspensions plaguing the team thus far, the head coach not totally sure on the team’s full capabilities at this juncture in the season.
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“It’s hard to tell where we are only because we’ve had some injuries and played with affiliate players,” Jarrett said, while mentioning the club was without the services of Tyson Doucette this weekend, while Russell Oldham and Ethan Novello continue to be on the sidelines having played three games each.
Doucette was a costly loss this weekend as the forward has 10 goals and six assists in the 15 games played this season.
“These are guys who are going to play important minutes for us as we get into the meat of the season,” Jarrett said. “For this group, for the guys in the room, to pull out five of six points this weekend is just a real positive for us to move forward.”
Soo Thunderbirds rally from five goals down; lose in shootout to Soo Eagles - Sault Star
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