Thunderbirds dominant in victory over Rush
Mar 14, 2025
(HALIFAX, NS) March 14, 2025 -- The Halifax Thunderbirds jumped out to a big lead early and never looked back, beating the Saskatchewan Rush 17-9 at Scotiabank Centre on Friday night.
Clarke Petterson led the way offensively for the Thunderbirds on the night, scoring a hat trick and finishing the night with nine points. Mike Robinson (3G, 4A) had a career night while captain Cody Jamieson (2G, 4A) also had his best outing of the campaign.
Randy Staats had a hat trick and five points in his return to the Halifax lineup. Cole Kirst (2G, 1A) and Thomas Hoggarth (2G, 1A) also had strong contributions offensively throughout the night.
Jake Withers had a goal while having 16 loose balls and going 17 of 30 from the face-off dot. Trevor Smyth also added a goal in transition.
Warren Hill earned his seventh victory of the campaign, turning away 39 shots in the win.
The Thunderbirds got the scoring started early, depositing their first touch of the night into the net at the 13:46 mark. Robinson fed an open Petterson, who beat Scigliano after the Rush goalie bit on a shot fake from the rookie. Robinson followed that up under a minute later with his first goal of the night on a bouncer from distance.
After Adam Jay got the Rush on the board in transition, Nonkon Thompson hit Jamieson with a behind-the-back feed, and the Thunderbirds captain bounced a shot home for his first. That kicked off a four-goal run for Halifax, with Robinson, Petterson, and Hoggarth each adding on.
Jerrett Smith ended the run with Saskatchewan's second transition goal of the night, but Halifax got another trio of goals to cap the opening frame. Hoggarth scored a power-play dunk from behind the cage, Staats got his first on a floater while being knocked to the floor, and Petterson drove his defender to the net before slotting a bouncer to make it 9-2 for the Thunderbirds through 15 minutes.
The Thunderbirds set a new Halifax franchise record with that output in the first frame, coming just one goal short of the franchise-best mark, set all the way back in 1995.
The second quarter was a quieter one for both teams, but Halifax did add to the advantage heading into the half. Staats had a pair of goals, both coming down the left flank and fooling the goaltender with a changeup shot. That got Staats a first-half hat trick. Kirst got the third Halifax goal, blowing past multiple defenders before using a diving effort to score his first goal.
Clark Walter had a pair for Saskatchewan, but the Thunderbirds carried a 12-4 advantage into the break.
Halifax came out of the half firing again, with a three-goal run extending their lead. Jamieson scored on a twister from the outside on his off-side, Trevor Smyth added a shorthanded transition marker, and Kirst scored one of the nicest goals of the year, switching hands and hammering a shot home on the run.
Robert Church and Adam Jay got the Rush's first multi-goal run in the middle portion of the third, but Withers scored an absolute beauty, going the length of the floor while shrugging off a defender before finishing with a twister short-side in transition.
That gave the Thunderbirds a 16-6 lead heading into the final stanza.
From there, Warren Hill and the defence capped off their great night. Ryan Keenan, Austin Shanks, and Brock Haley scored in the final frame, but the Thunderbirds turned away the comeback bid from the visitors, with Robinson getting his hat-trick goal at the 10:00 mark to complete a solid all-around night for Halifax in front of their home faithful.
With the victory, the Thunderbirds move to 8-5 on the season. Heading into the home stretch of the regular season, the team will cap off its three-game homestand next Friday when they welcome the Ottawa Black Bears to The Nest for the first time ever. Opening face-off is at 7:00 p.m. AT.
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