Slow start costly as Battalion doubled by Knights

The London Knights came to North Bay on Thursday and doubled up on the Troops 6-3 after the visitors tickled the twine three times before the game was seven minutes old.  

“I knew London was going to come in and give us their best game,” said head coach Ryan Oulahen. “They hadn’t won for a couple of games and they haven’t had a lot of success in this building as of late, so I knew they were going to come out firing and you saw how good they can be when you give them chances.

“Saying that, I did like our fight back. Our guys never quit and they never gave up. As soon as we made it close, make a big mistake and it was in the back of our net and we couldn’t quite keep the sustainability. I was hoping we would have a third period to give us a chance, but it just doesn’t go that way all the time.”

Just over four minutes into the opening frame, the Knights struck as Ruslan Gazisov (6) beat a diving Dom DiVincentiis. A London player fell on the Battalion netminder after the goal, leading to a scrum that resulted in a penalty against the Troops. On the ensuing powerplay, Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan (9) one timed the puck past DiVincentiis for a quick 2-0 lead for the Knights. Moments later on yet another Battalion penalty, Oliver Bonk (4) shot the puck on net, DiVincentiis got a piece, but not enough as London led 3-0.

Before the period even reached the midway point, North Bay’s offence responded. Alex Cajkovic found Anthony Romani (18) alone in the high slot where he sniped the puck over Michael Simpson’s glove to cut into the lead. Simpson was acquired by London just before the season began from Peterborough, winning an OHL championship last year.

With seconds left in the first, Gazisov found himself on a breakaway after serving a penalty, but DiVincentiis showed why he was named OHL Goalie of the Year for 2022/23, making a big save to keep the Troops to within two as the first intermission hit with London up 3-1.

Just under six minutes into the second, London struck again. Battling in the corner, Brayden Turley passed the puck out front of the Battalion net, gifting a chance to Denver Barkey, however, DiVincentiis denied him. Off the ensuing pressure from the giveaway, the puck found Gazisov (7) who netted his second of the game.

Special teams continued to play a big factor in the game as a few minutes later Ty Nelson (10) floated the puck on Simpson, beating him blocker side. That goal came a whole 12 seconds on the Battalion powerplay. With just under 30 seconds left in the period, Liam Arnsby (3) netted one of the prettiest goals you could ever see. The play started with Ethan Procyszyn passing to Justin Ertel in the slot, but Ertel couldn’t convert on the open net. With the puck bouncing behind the net, Procyszyn threw it back out front, which hit Arnsby in the skate, bouncing up for the captain to bat the puck in over a sprawling Simpson. With the goal, Arnsby has now been fielding offers from the Toronto Blue Jays for next summer, and the score stood at 4-3 for the Knights after two periods of play.

“I didn’t intend for that to happen,” smirked Arnsby. “Just a lucky bounce and it was nice to get that goal.”

More special teams action kicked off the third as Bonk (5) added his second with Paul Christopoulos sitting in the penalty box for North Bay. The Troops had done a good job stifling the London penalty, but with 11 seconds remaining on the man advantage, Bonk came through. Late in the third and with DiVincentis pulled, Max McCue (4) put the puck in the empty net to finish off the scoring at 6-3.

The Troops are back in action Friday when they kick off a five-game road trip starting in Guelph against the Storm.

“I think we have to rest as much as we can,” Arnsby said on rebounding quickly. “It’s a short window but hydrate as much as we can, and regroup following this game.”

“We get right back at it,” added Oulahen. “When you don’t have the result you want one night, you get a real quick turnaround which is the best thing in the world to try and redeem yourself and away we go.”