Battalion explode offensively in win over IceDogs

It was an offensive explosion for the North Bay Battalion on Thursday evening as the Troops took down the rival Niagara IceDogs 9-3.

“First and foremost, it’s good offensive production for us,” Battalion head coach Ryan Oulahen said.

"Over the last week or two, you can see that we’re ready to have a little more offence and to score nine, you’re doing something right.

“I think when we changed our line combinations, you like to see chemistry between the guys and that’s a good thing. Of course, it’s not a coaches dream to play a 9-3 game and we have to clean things up. We play tomorrow against Hamilton and we’ll have to be better tomorrow night.”

All told, 13 different Battalion players registered at least a point in the game starting with Kyle McDonald (5) beating IceDogs netminder Owen Flores early in the first. Just 26 seconds later, rookie Jacob Therrien netted his first of the season, while Dalyn Wakely (4) put North Bay up 3-0 after the first period.

Early in the second, Pasquale Zito found a way past Dom DiVincentiis for his first of three on the night to give Niagara their first goal, however after that North Bay scored five unanswered goals. Nikita Tarasevich (4, 5), Anthony Romani (2), Matvey Petrov (5), and Therrien (2) were the goal scorers.

“He earns it,” Oulahen said on Therrien. 

"He works so, so hard. He’s an energy guy. We know the size issue, but his heart is massive, and he doesn’t back down from anybody or anything. On our depth chart, his line looks like a fourth line, but they can play against anybody and that’s our strength.”

To finish out the game, Owen Van Steensel (2) had his goal sandwiches between two of Zito’s for his hat trick.

As mentioned, the Battalion head south on Friday for a rematch from last year’s Eastern Conference Final against the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Bulldogs ended the Troops season with a 4-0 series sweep, en route to an OHL Championship and berth in the Memorial Cup.

“Earlier in the week I was asked about it and I deflected it just saying ‘I know we play Niagara Thursday night,’” Oulahen stated. “Well now, quickly, I said to the guys, ‘what happened May 27, 2022? (6-0 Bulldogs victory to end the series)’ They all know. We’ll see what happens tomorrow night.”