The North Bay Battalion find themselves back in the win column as the Troops gutted out a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the rival Sudbury Wolves.
“I feel good about this game,” said Battalion head coach Ryan Oulahen post game.
“I thought there were signs of us getting back on track. I told the guys before the game it’s gotta be a 1-0 mentality and remember how you play late in the season.
“Heading into the playoffs this is what it’s going to take. Everyone is going to be scratching and clawing for points so you can’t just look at the standings and I thought we were back on track a little bit with our compete and it’s a good feeling that way more than anything.”
After a scoreless first period, Matvey Petrov (20) beat Kevyn Brassard to give the Troops a 1-0 lead. Seattle Kraken prospect David Goyette (27) then decided to take care of things himself as he walked in and beat Dom DiVincentiis cleanly to tie the game 1-1. After some more back and forth, that’s how the second period ended.
Coming out of the gates hot in the third, Kyle Jackson (25) found the twine behind Brassard to give the Troops the edge, and the 2-1 victory.
“I have been saying this the last few times we have played them, I have watched them play a lot, especially after the coaching change knowing we were going to play them a lot, they are a really good hockey team,” Oulahen said on the Wolves.
“The standings don’t mean anything to where they are, they should be way higher up if they started the season like this.
“I think going into today, they are the hottest team in our conference. They’re a good hockey team and they have beaten some good teams and they play the right way. Our games are tight with them and fun to play in.”
The Battalion next host Shane Wright and the Western Conference leading Windsor Spitfires on Thursday. It will mark a return to North Bay for Alex Christopoulos and can be heard live on the Frontline Gameday YouTube channel starting at 6:50 p.m.
