OTTAWA – For Mike Amadio and all the North Bay Battalion, two (goals by the captain) plus two (points in the standings) is greater than five.
Amadio's top-shelf salvos furnished the winning margin in North Bay's 3-2 road victory against the Ottawa 67's, as they retook third place in Eastern Conference and ended a skein of hard-luck third periods. The goals that silenced a Family Day crowd of 4,559 at The Arena at TD Place gave Amadio seven across two games. Zach Bratina had successive hat tricks in the fall just before retiring from the OHL due to brain injuries.
“We obviously needed the win today,” Amadio, the Los Angeles Kings third-rounder who is up to a team-high 37 goals and 77 points after also burying a franchise-record five goals in Saturday's loss against Kingston. “It was tough losing the Kingston game and we needed it today. It's nice to do it, but it's even nicer to do it in a win.”
The Battalion (27-18-4-4) moved two points ahead of the Niagara IceDogs (27-20-3-3) and the 67's (29-24-1-1), which is spotting each of the former two games in hand. The Battalion, who had assistant coaches John Dean and Ryan Oulahen running the bench while coach/GM Stan Butler awaits disciplinary action after his ejection in Kingston, also battened down late when Ottawa pressed for the tie.
Artur Tyanulin's backhand goal with 6:28 left in the third period – the Russian's third in four Battalion-67's games – created a frantic finish. Overage goalie Jake Smith made 13 of his 26 saves in the third. Defence partners Riley Bruce and Mark Shoemaker, also held up while playing the last 75 seconds thanks to an Battalion icing.
Artur Tyanulin's backhand goal with 6:28 left in the third period – the Russian's third in four Battalion-67's games – created a frantic finish. Overage goalie Jake Smith made 13 of his 26 saves in the third. Defence partners Riley Bruce and Mark Shoemaker, also held up while playing the last 75 seconds thanks to an Battalion icing.
“We would have liked to have been stronger in our third period – I think maybe we sat back just a little too much,” Oulahen observed. “But that's the reality of the game. The team trailing in the final five minutes of the third period will usually find a way to make a push. That's what happened and we were able to hold them off and get those two points.”
Amadio's markers, at 12:30 of the first and 18:43 of the second, with wings Mathew Santos and Maurizio Colella getting the respective primary assists, came on almost identical shots after he was able to wind up from the high slot on zippy zone entries. Ottawa goalie Liam Herbst was helpless on each.
How often does a player get that dialled in?
“I'll tell you how often you see it – I've never seen it,” Oulahen said. “This is pretty special. He gets that puck on his stick and you can see it in his eyes that he thinks he's scores. For a guy like Mike Amadio with the ability he has and that confidence, it's something to see. To follow up a five-goal game with a big game tonight with another big performance – and not only the goals he scored, but the way he was defensively and on the penalty kill.
“Late in the game he made a great play to get the puck out of our zone, with 10 seconds to go. That is Mike Amadio at his best.”
Amadio scoring all but one of the Battalion's eight goals – Steve Harland had Monday's icebreaker, getting his ninth on a power play 8:24 in – on the Eastern Ontario road trip belied the nature of the Battalion's effort. They had a stronger start than during the Feb. 9 overtime loss against Ottawa. Ottawa's leading scorer, 19-year-old centre Dante Salituro, was held to one assist.
The Brett McKenzie-David Sherman-Zach Poirier and Brett Hargrave-Daniil Vertiy-Harland lines generated pressure. All three of Monday's power plays – two of which the Battalion converted – were earned while standout rookie defenceman Cam Dineen was on the ice.
The Brett McKenzie-David Sherman-Zach Poirier and Brett Hargrave-Daniil Vertiy-Harland lines generated pressure. All three of Monday's power plays – two of which the Battalion converted – were earned while standout rookie defenceman Cam Dineen was on the ice.
Amadio's second goal also came through Dineen occupying a defenceman on a 3-on-1 rush, creating a cross-ice passing lane for Colella. The 18-year-old left wing, whose job is to create time and space to complement Amadio and Santos, was on the mark for his fourth assist in two games.
“That was an unbelievable pass by Colella,” Amadio said. “He and Santos have been unbelievable. We have a lot of chemistry right now.”
The Battalion have five consecutive three-game weeks to finish the regular season. They have a 3-in-4 on this week's docket, with Thursday and Sunday afternoon home games against Sudbury and Peterborough sandwiched around Friday's down-and-back visit to Mississauga.
Fans at the Memorial Gardens this week will see a slightly different looking No. 18. Amadio broke out the Schick before the hot stick.
“I freshly shaved before the trip down,” said the 19-year-old Sault Ste. Marie native, who had been sporting a beard. “I might have to start doing that more often.”
