Almost three weeks since falling to the Ottawa 67’s in the nations capital, the North Bay Battalion served up some revenge as they took down Ottawa 3-2 at Memorial Gardens on Thursday evening.
“Good result,” said head coach Ryan Oulahen. “I liked our start, and I know they got the first goal, but that’s more of what I like to see at home. I’m looking down at their end for most of the first period and I like that.
“We were able to bounce back, and from there it might not be exciting for the fans but that’s the one coaches like where you don’t have anything too, too dangerous, and then find the game winner on a great tip by Shamar (Moses).”
“It was a hard fought game,” added captain Owen Van Steensel. “They’re a good team and we came out and competed today.”
Almost four minutes into the opening frame, the Battalion found their legs offensively as Ethan Procyszyn and Owen Van Steensel had some great chances. However, Ottawa’s netminder Collin MacKenzie made some highlight reel saves to keep the game scoreless.
A few minutes later, after some more pressure from the Troops, Ottawa made the most of their next attack as Luca Pinelli (7) slid the puck under Charlie Laroque’s pad off a smooth transition game, 1-0 67’s.
North Bay responded in kind at 6:38 of the first on a powerplay. Procyszyn (9) was the recipient of some solid passing by Jacob Therrien and Shamar Moses in the 67’s zone, putting the puck into a wide open net, 1-1.
Later in the frame, the Battalion struck again on the powerplay. This time, Laroque traded his goal saving prowess for playmaking skills as he received a dump in attempt on his net, fired a pass to the Ottawa blueline tape to tape to Therrien, who then slid it to Van Steensel (3) in low, who dipsy doodled around MacKenzie. The score was 2-1 Troops after the first period.
The goal for Van Steensel marked his second in as many games, after having just one through his first 10 games.
“It’s definitely nice,” explained Van Steensel. “I don’t want to say frustrating, but a little bit stressful early in the year, kind of wasn’t happy where I was at, but we’re on track now.”
“It’s a good sign,” added Oulahen. “He’s done this before, and he’s just playing the way he needs to play. That line has been really good and hopefully we can keep that going.”
After a scoreless second period, Ottawa didn’t waste much time to start the third to get the offence rolling. With Procyszyn in the box serving a penalty, Filip Ekberg (5) tapped the puck past an out stretched Laroque to tie the game 2-2.
At 14:23 the 67’s nearly took the lead as the puck took a strange bounce off the end boards right out front, but Laroque channeled his London Knight era Adam Dennis and made a huge glove save to keep the score tied.
The save proved to be a harbinger for things to come as 1:18 minutes later Moses (3) tipped in a Wyatt Kennedy point shot to give the Battalion a 3-2 lead.
Late in the third with Ottawa threatening, Larocque held down the fort, and even looked for an elusive goalie goal but the referees blew the whistle quickly as he put the puck back on the ice. After a few more minutes, the final whistle blew with North Bay taking a 3-2 victory.
“Maybe he could have had a little bit more time and space, but you have to give him applause for the confidence for sure,” Oulahen said on Larocque who finished with 33 saves on 35 shots. “He had an unbelievable assist tonight here because of how well he can play the puck.
“The last 10 minutes they had their big push and he just seemed to get calmer. He looked calm and composed and kept the door shut which isn’t a bad thing.”
The Troops are back in action Friday when they travel to Sudbury for a rematch with the Wolves. Sudbury took the last game, last Sunday, 4-3 in overtime.
