It was wild, wacky and didn’t go the way the Battalion had hoped. North Bay (18-26-4-0) watched a 4-0 lead turn into a 5-4 overtime loss on the road against the Guelph Storm (15-26-4-3) after completely dominating the first half of the contest.
Max Namestnikov (15) capped off the comeback. Lev Katzin sent a pass to Namestnikov at the top of the zone, he walked in towards the hashmarks, pulled the puck around Zach Wigle and beat North Bay goaltender Jack Lisson on the glove side at 1:13 to finish the game.
This game wasn’t close…until it was. North Bay was not only in control on the scoreboard but also in their play on the ice. The passing was unbelievably crisp, especially in the offensive zone. The Troops were doing anything and everything they wanted when they had control of the puck and looked like they could’ve scored at will at times. They pressured the Storm in their own end relentlessly, built up a 4-0 lead, and looked to be in cruise control through the first 35 minutes of the game.
But credit Guelph goaltender Colin Ellsworth for settling in after he and his team got behind by four. The 17-year-old out of Aurora, ON stopped the final 17 shots that came his way, allowing the Storm to score five unanswered goals of their own.
It’s a tough loss for the Battalion who scored at least four goals in back to back games for the first time since November, but they only manage to pick up one point after a 7-4 loss at home on Thursday to the Soo Greyhounds and the OT loss to the Storm.
It’s also the first time the Battalion haven’t been able to close out a win on the road when leading after two periods of play; they were 6-0-0-0 in such instances and are now 11-2-1-0 overall when leading after 40 minutes.
North Bay opened the scoring just two minutes into the game. Shamar Moses kept his point streak going by collecting his 11th goal of the season, extending his streak to four straight games with a point (1-3-4). There was a group of players inside the hash marks and the puck slide away from that area towards the left side circle and Moses pounced on the loose puck, using those players as a screen, and getting his shot past the Guelph netminder at 2:08 for a 1-0 lead.
Moses had an eight-game point streak snapped on December 12 and then failed to score a point in four straight contest. Since that short lull, Moses has 14 points (5-9-14) in 16 games going back to December 20.
Right after the Battalion opened the scoring, the Storm thought they tied the game when a point shot found it’s way past Lisson (2-4-0-0) and into the back of the Troops net. However, the net came dislodged just as the puck crossed the goal line and after a review, the officials reversed the call on the ice and called no goal on the play.
Upon several reviews it appears that not only was the net knocked off, but a Guelph player was also cutting across the crease and his stick just briefly made contact with Lisson as the shot came in. Put all those factors together and the powers that be decided that there wasn’t enough evidence to determine that it was a fair goal. The Battalion probably felt like they were owed some review luck though as they were on the wrong side of two goal reviews in their 7-4 loss to the Greyhounds on Thursday night.
It was one of several plays the officials needed a second look at throughout the course of the night, including a slew foot penalty called against Eric Frossard at 12:08 of the third period, resulting in match penalty to the first year defenseman. The call came with the game tied 4-4, but the Battalion couldn’t take advantage of the five-minute power play, allowing the Storm to get back to even strength with just over three minutes left in the contest, after piling on three third period goals.
With the Troops ahead 4-1 going into the third, Guelph got their offense going early courtesy of Katzin (10) beating Lisson from the left side circle at 1:15.
Charlie Paquette (21) made it a one goal game with his power play goal at 7:31. Katzin went towards the net and then fed a perfect pass across the top of the crease over to Paquette who tapped the puck in on the far side post.
Ryan McGuire (9) tied the game at 11:15. He crept in behind the defense on the right side and received a perfect cross zone pass from Parker Snelgrove into the bottom of the circle. McGuire then redirected the puck into the net to make it 4-4.
It was a scenario not many of the 4604 in attendance at the Sleeman Centre thought they would be seeing after the Battalion jumped out to that 4-0 lead.
After Moses opened the scoring in the first, Ethan Procyszyn (28) fired in a one timer from the left side circle at 4:38 to put the Troops ahead 2-0. This just after the review of the Guelph non-goal. The Battalion captain Procyszyn has three goals in his last four games.
Nick Wellenreiter set up the goal by outmaneuvering the Storm defence. After a cross zone pass from defenceman Adrian Manzo, Wellenreiter went towards the goal line, spun around, went towards the top of the circle, put on the breaks and then fed a seeing eye pass through the slot right towards the tape of Procyszyn.
Lirim Amidovski (12) was then rewarded with being the last player to touch the puck after it ping ponged off a few players before sliding in behind Ellsworth. It was another play the Battalion moved the puck with skill up the ice, finding the open man and getting a chance on net, and they got a little bit lucky that it bounced around and ended up behind Ellsworth to make it 3-0 at 16:48.
That three-goal outburst in the first has been a rare sight for the Battalion this season as the first period has been the least productive for North Bay scoring just 34 goals in the opening frame, while allowing 60.
Andrew LeBlanc (9) deflected in a point shot from Jacob LeBlanc at 5:24 of the second period while the Battalion were on the power play to make it 4-0. Getting a secondary assist on the goal was Procyszyn, which was his 100th career OHL point. The third round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks (2024, #68 overall) has already set a career high with goals and points this season and is now just two shy of tying his career high of 21 assists.
Despite the loss there is reason for optimism as the Battalion once again manage to pick up a point against a Western Conference team, something they have done well this year. They are now 6-7-2-0 in games against teams in the opposing conference and when you isolate those numbers, removing the games against the top three teams (London, Windsor and Kitchener) they are 5-3-2-0.
The Battalion are also scoring at a better pace over their last six games, being held to under three goals just once in those games. But they’ll need to shore things up defensively if they want to continue this playoff push, giving up 28 goals in that same stretch.
The silver lining is there is a real playoff push happening here. With Ottawa losing 5-2 to the Oshawa Generals, the Battalion are now tied in points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They also have a couple of games in hand and have a chance to leapfrog the 67’s by the end of the weekend if they can secure a few more points. They’ll play the Attack in Owen Sound on Saturday, while the 67’s host Flint on Sunday.