The Ottawa 67's broke open a 2-2 tie after 40 minutes with a five-goal outburst in the final frame as a young Battalion lineup dropped a 7-2 decision to the Barber Poles at Memorial Gardens in the first pre-season game of the new season.
The Battalion dressed a team minus veterans Ty Nelson, Dom DiVincentiis, Brice Cooke, Pasquale Zito, Owen Van Steensel, Ethan Procyszyn, and captain Liam Arnsby.
That meant players like import Alex Cajkovic, Carter Kostuch, Reyth Smith, and Zach Wilson were getting their first taste of OHL hockey.
"First thing is playing Ottawa, we know they are a good test for us, we knew they were going to dress a competitive lineup; we chose to go with a younger lineup and get our young kids some experience and get them into the game," said Ryan Oulahen, Battalion head coach.
"I thought it was a really good learning experience in a whole because it opens players' eyes up as to how hard this league is and what you have to do not only game in and game out but every shift in and shift out."
Things started early as Anthony Romani was able to walk out of the corner and beat the 67's netminder Max Donoso on the first shot of the game by the Troops.
Veteran and Dallas Stars prospect Justin Ertel followed suit with an impressive net drive toe drag goal on Donoso which made it 2-0 before the fans were comfortable in their pre-season seats.
However, midway through the first frame Luca Pinelli went coast to coast and beat Robertson on the short side which got the 67's on the board.
The 67's evened things early in the second period again on an individual rush by Frankie Marrelli as the 67's forward was knocked into Battalion goalie Charlie Robertson and the puck slid into the net.
The Ottawa 67s continued to put on a good push in the middle frame but Charlie Robertson kept things even 2-2 despite the Troops being outshot 26-13 after 40.
Early third, the 67's struck again on a breakaway after Jacob Therrien lost the puck and Will Gerrior went in on Robertson faked and slid the puck around his outstretched leg.
The 67's increased their lead on a power play marker by import Tuomas Uronen who beat Robertson high glove on a nice feed through the slot by Dallas Stars prospect Brad Gardiner at 8:41 of the third.
The 67's scoring parade continued as Gavin Ewles shot deflected off a Battalion defender past Robertson for a 5-2 lead midway through the third at 10:33.
The 67's continued on a turnover at the blueline by Alex Cajkovic as Kimi Korbler stole the puck and ripped a snap shot past Robertson which made it 6-2 on the nice shot by the Ottawa Swiss import forward at 17:18.
Less than a minute later Brady Stonehouse put a puck home in a scramble in front of Robertson as the rough period for the Troops continued.
"As you saw it kind of got away from us in the third period and I think that is a healthy thing for us to have some concrete stuff that we can start building from, teaching, doing all that kind of stuff that we are looking forward to now," said Oulahen.
They ramped it up and our guys were just getting the first feel of it. I don't want to make excuses that they had an older lineup because I wanted them to feel it today. We wanted them to go through this little bit of adversity already and feel what the league was really about and that is a good hockey team over there. That is why we like playing them because it is very competitive and as close as you are going to get to a regular season game."
Robertson made 30 saves in the loss, while Max Donoso made 23 saves for the win as he settled down after the two early tallies by the Troops.
The Battalion will get to connect with the 67's again in pre-season action for a matinee in Ottawa at the TD Place. Puck drop is 3 p.m.
