Late goal lifts Skyhawks over Thunderbirds

Skyhawks forward Nathan Hewitt circles behind the Thunderbirds net during a second period power play. Photo by Chris Dawson.

The North Bay Skyhawks have been looking for timely scoring and they got it from one of their role players on Friday night.

With less than three minutes to play Justin Roy deflected a Bryan Albert pass past Ryan Dube to break a 3-3 tie and give the Skyhawks a 4-3 victory over the Soo Thunderbirds in a penalty filled contest at Memorial Gardens.

“It feels great,” Roy said about his game winner which was only his fourth goal on the season.

“I’m not the greatest goal scorer so when I do get one out there it feels really awesome especially getting the game winner like that in a close game and those are the games you like to win, the close battle ones.”

But it was penalties that overshadowed the dramatic goal near the end of the game as referee Darren Long handed out 39 penalties which made it a challenge for both teams to deal with.

“It’s tough it was going both ways, and some of the checks from behind and some that weren’t called you know you’ve got to live with the decisions and just keep battling through it,” said Skyhawks head coach Darren Turcotte.

Thunderbirds head coach Pat Carricato had a tough time holding back his comments about the way the game was officiated which ended with a hooking call against the Thunderbirds in the final minute of the game along with a misconduct against the coach himself.

“It makes for a frustrating boring game as a fan standpoint and that’s the way it is, there were some questionable calls and I say call the obvious but don’t go hunting for it,” said Carricato after the game.

The Skyhawks opened the scoring in the first on a Kyle Radigan goal and it remained that way until the second period.

Kyle Rodgers evened things up for the Soo with a powerplay goal as he slid one past Ian Wilson.

The Skyhawks responded with a powerplay goal on a 5 on 3 advantage as Nick Kulas took the puck in the slot and spun around and fired a shot through the legs of Ryan Dube for a 2-1 lead.

The Thunderbirds bounced back with a pair of goals just over 15 minutes into the period as Brett Perlini one timed a shot past Wilson during 4 on 4 play and just over a minute later Tyler Lannigan’s point shot eluded Wilson to give the Soo their first lead of the game at 3-2.

With just over a minute left in the second period Brad Hummel evened things up during another Skyhawks 5 on 3 advantage as his wrist shot slipped by Dube to even the score at 3-3.

Skyhawks Clips

Skyhawks forward Nick Kulas who has four goals in his last two games was ejected from the game in the second period after he went after Thunderbirds Randy Willis after he took Skyhawks defenceman Reilly Miller hard into the boards from behind. . . The Skyhawks finished 2 for 11 on the powerplay while the Thunderbirds finished 2 for 10 with the extra man.