After an overtime setback in game one against the Barrie Colts, the North Bay Battalion pushed back in game two with a 5-2 victory.
The best of seven series is now tied 1-1 as it shifts to Barrie.
“I think we came out with our same mentality as we did in game one,” explained head coach Ryan Oulahen. “We did a lot of good things there, I think the difference here was we were able to keep it going and get that third one to make it a 4-1 lead.
“That’s important because that team can turn on a dime offensively real quick so it’s always important to capitalize on the chances you can get.”
It was Barrie who got off to the fast start, however. Seven seconds in to the game, Justin Ertel was assessed a slashing penalty and on the ensuing powerplay, Beau Jelsma (3) beat Dom DiVincentiis 43 seconds into the game. Less than a minute later, North Bay responded as a Ty Nelson point shot was tipped by Kyle McDonald (8) by Anson Thornton to tie the game. Seven minutes after, McDonald (9) once again upgraded his combo to a double Big Mac as he muscled his way to the net and gave the Troops the lead. Before the period was finished, Kyle Jackson (4) added on to the lead and North Bay headed to the first intermission up 3-1.
“The beauty of that, and you don’t like it happening fast, but you still have all game to play,” Oulahen said on the quick goal against to start the game. “No point in feeling sorry for yourself. Unfortunately we took a penalty right away and they capitalized.
“We did a really good job rebounding and just getting to our game and finishing the first period really well.”
In the second, the Troops continued to press before Liam Arnsby (2) converted on a Nikita Tarasevich pass from behind the net for the lone marker in the second.
However, the Colts didn’t go away as they came out hard in third. Eventually their efforts resulted in a Jacob Frasca (4) powerplay goal which brought the game to 4-2. Then late in the game, with Thornton pulled for the extra attacker, Powassan native Connor Punnett sent the puck back to the point for Barrie, but with no one there sent it down towards the empty goal. Pasquale Zito (2), showing loads of speed, won the foot race and sealed the game with the empty net goal, 5-2 North Bay.
The battle will reignite on Tuesday when the Battalion travel south to Barrie for a matchup at the Sadlon Arena.
“Let’s go there and have some fun,” said Oulahen. “Today was an important one for us and we have two in their building so let’s go have some fun.
“We’ve been a really good road team all year.”
Puck drop is at 7:30pm, and you can catch the game live on the Frontline YouTube Channel.
Post game interview courtesy The Frontline Podcast:
