Thunderbirds Fall to Paper Kings in 2-0 Shutout Loss at Home -

Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

On Sunday, January 5th in an afternoon matinee at the John Rhodes Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, the Soo Thunderbirds faced off against the Espanola Paper Kings. The Thunderbirds were coming off a hard-fought 5-4 overtime loss the day before and were looking to bounce back in this contest. However, the seventh-place Thunderbirds (13-6-1-2) would fall short to the tenth-place Paper Kings (10-18-2-1), losing 2-0 in a game that saw the Paper Kings earn their second shutout of the season.

The game began with tight checking on both sides as both teams battled for control of the puck in the first period. Despite some early opportunities, neither team was able to find the back of the net. The Thunderbirds had plenty of chances, but Espanola goaltender James Mereditch stood tall, making key saves throughout the period.

At 5:38 of the second frame, the Paper Kings broke the deadlock when Kaden Wickerland pounced on a pass from Jack Anderson and Grant Booth. Wickerland fired a quick shot from the left faceoff circle, beating Thunderbirds netminder Lincoln Mellenthin to give Espanola a 1-0 lead. Wickerland’s 13th goal of the season put the Paper Kings on the scoreboard and set the tone for the rest of the game.

With time winding down in the third period, the Thunderbirds pulled Mellenthin for an extra attacker in hopes of finding the equalizer. However, the Paper Kings sealed the victory when Lucas DuBois found the empty net at 19:14 to make it 2-0. DuBois’ fifth goal of the season, assisted by Jason Galante, put the game out of reach for the Thunderbirds, who were unable to generate enough offensive pressure late in the contest.

Despite the loss, Thunderbirds goaltender Lincoln Mellenthin had a solid performance in net, stopping 19 of 20 shots. However, it was Mereditch’s stellar performance in goal that stood out for the Paper Kings, as he turned aside all 30 shots that came his way to record his second shutout of the season.

Visit Freeze Frame Photos by Bob Davies photo gallery of the Espanola Paper Kings visiting the Soo Thunderbirds in NOJHL action.

“We are super happy with the win today! Today was the most complete game we have played so far. Our attention to detail was what allowed us to get the win. We talked about our game plan and then stuck to it! Our past ten games or so have been a struggle and our offence has dipped a little bit of late, so it was nice for the boys to see that you don’t have to win games 7-5 or 6-2 all the time. I think moving forward we just need to focus on the finer details of the game and reduce the scoring opportunities we are giving out to the other teams. If we can play go positional hockey and move the puck north we will be ok,” said Paper King coach Jason Rapcewicz.

Soo Thunderbird coach Jamie Henderson told Saultsports that “It’s a disappointing loss, for sure. They outworked us early. We started to push as the game went on, but we didn’t generate enough quality chances and when we did we missed the net a lot and didn’t have much of a presence there when we needed. We don’t play now for almost two weeks, so there is a great opportunity both on and off the ice to improve.”

The Thunderbirds, now with a 13-7-1-2 record, will look to regroup before their next game on January 17th when they host the Kirkland Lake Goldminers at 7:00 p.m. at the John Rhodes Centre. Fans will hope to see a better result as the Thunderbirds aim to get back on track and climb up the standings in the coming weeks.