Battalion hold off Spitfires

A two goal effort by Owen Van Steensel helped the North Bay Battalion down the Windsor Spitfires 5-4 in Windsor Thursday evening.

With the victory, North Bay snaps a four game losing streak.

Coming into the game, North Bay had a challenge on their hands as their record stood at 7-7-2 for 16 points and seventh in the Eastern Conference. Compare that to Windsor’s 12-2-1 for 25 points and second in the Western Conference, and the odds certainly seemed in the Spitfire’s favour.

The Troops got down to business early as 19 seconds in Andrew LeBlanc (4) converted on a rebound caused by Jacob Therrien, beating Spits netminder Joey Costanzo on the secondary chance.

Almost eight minutes later, with the Battalion buzzing, Windsor could not clear the zone. With the puck knocked back towards Ryder Carey, the forward tapped it on net, and the rebound found Nolan Laird, who then found Lirim Amidovski (5) on the rebound, putting the Troops up 2-0.

Not done with the offence, however, North Bay added again. This time, Carey (3) was the beneficiary of a misplay by Costanzo. The netminder picked the puck up behind his net, and tried to pass it around the end boards, but faster than you could run into an apartment and yell Jerry! Amidovski broke up the Costanzo pass and fed Carey in front of an open net.

Not to be outdone by North Bay, Windsor responded 52 seconds later. Ilya Protas picked off a Battalion clearing attempt, and found LA Kings prospect Liam Greentree (9) who one timed the puck past Charlie Laroque. That made the score 3-1 North Bay after 20 minutes of play.

Windsor threatened early in the second as the Spitfires brought it to within a goal as Noah Morneau (6) ripped the shot top shelf. Picking up an assist on the play was former Battalion Owen Outwater.

Just under three minutes later, Troops captain Owen Van Steensel (6) entered the chat for OHL goal of the year. Streaking in, #16 in green was hauled down while getting the shot off, but twisting on his back side picked up the rebound and buried the puck.

Giving North Bay some more breathing room was Van Steensel (7), again, this time on the powerplay. Shamar Moses found Van Steensel at the side of the net, and OVS banked the puck in from the goal line. 5-2 Battalion.

After some back and forth, Windsor put the pressure on North Bay. With 4:51 left on the clock, and their goalie pulled, the Spits started scratching and clawing, and Jack Nesbitt (10) knocked the puck past Laroque.   5-3. Picking up assists was Morneau and Greentree, making it so both had multi point nights.

Just over a minute later, the Spitfires scored again, this time Cole Davis (5) was the goal scorer. Picking up an assist was Tnias Mathurin, a former Battalion defender who was traded this summer to Windsor to make room for the overagers.

However, with all the white knuckles at the end, North Bay managed to hold on for the 5-4 victory. Laroque made 22 saves in the victory, while Costanzo turned aside 23 in the defeat.

Looking to build some momentum, the Troops will face off against Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan and the London Knights Friday night. Puck drop from London is at 7 p.m.