NORTH BAY, ON - There’s always excitement when it comes to inter-conference rivalry games in hockey, and that excitement gets turned up to eleven when it comes to two teams on the playoff bubble.
That especially shone through today at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens as the Battalion bested the 67’s 5-2 for a roaring crowd of 2,795.
“I liked our game right from the start. I know we went down 2-1 after the first, but I really felt we could have been up if we buried some of those early chances in the first couple of minutes,” mused Battalion head coach Ryan Oulahen on his team’s play.
It took a true group effort to take down the 67’s. 26 saves out of 28 shots faced for Mike McIvor, goals from almost every line including crucial markers from Ihnat Pazii and defenceman Bronson Ride all helped put the Troops in the driver’s seat of this crucial four-point swing game.
“We had a game plan in place, and we stuck to it the whole game, from the first period to the third, and it showed in the end,” mentioned Bronson Ride.
“Everyone knew what was at stake here, a big two points, a four-point swing. It really helps us.”
With this win, the Battalion now hold a four-point lead over Ottawa for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
Both teams now have six games remaining in their seasons, a possible twelve points to earn. The Battalion currently holds the tie-break.
The energy was apparent from the first drop of the puck as the Battalion laid hit after hit on the 67’s, who were rolling with a shortened bench, just nine forwards and six defenders. Battalion defenceman Aaron Enright was especially effective at throwing his weight around early, shutting down the visitors forecheck with gusto.
The Battalion carried that momentum through their first penalty kill as well, hardly letting the attacking visitors get through to the net.
When the Troops were presented with their first opportunity on the man advantage, they would not let it go to waste. The Battalion cycled the puck around the top of the Ottawa zone; Shamar Moses to Andrew LeBlanc then down to Jacob Therrien (16) who danced across the crease and tucked home his eleventh power play goal of the year and set the score at 1-0.
This, however, would be the end of positivity for the Battalion in the opening frame, as just 51 seconds later 67’s winger Filip Ekberg would take advantage of a bad clearing attempt, sending the puck to Captain Luca Pinelli (33) who wired in the tying goal.
Only 27 seconds later, Ottawa struck again as Jack Dever (8) sent a wrister past McIvor after gathering up a deflected shot that hit traffic in front of the net to go-ahead 2-1. Assists on the play go to Matthew Mayich, who played his 250th OHL game this afternoon, and Bradley Horner.
During the second period, the advantages that the Troops had in the opening frame slowly started to even out with the pressure put on by the 67’s. Scoring opportunities for either squad became increasingly rush-oriented, just one or two shots then quickly cleared out to the opposite zone.
The game-tying goal by the Battalion came from the first real sequence of extended zone time in the period, doing what the Battalion do best, and that is forechecking.
With the puck deftly brought into the Ottawa zone the Troops went to work, repeatedly running the defenders into the boards. With chaos sufficiently caused Jacob LeBlanc passed the puck to defensive partner Bronson Ride (5) who took two strides and lasered in a shot from just below the blue line, 2-2.
"We were playing the right way the whole game, I got one in, and the guys kept going," noted Ride about his equalizer.
The final period started much like the second, both teams trading opportunities with neither squad budging an inch.
The tie would finally break due to a deft zone entry by Nick Wellenreiter, cutting in across the blue line and drawing multiple defenders along with him.
Wellenreiter then dropped a pass to Lirim Amidovski (16) in the space Wellenreiter created for him. With a quick flick of the stick Amidovski would just beat netminder Jaeden Nelson’s glove for the 3-2 goal.
Four and a half minutes later, Ihnat Pazii (6) got in on the action, skating in solo over the blue line, surrounded by three defenders, he took a shot that snuck past the shoulder of Nelson for the key insurance marker.
When asked about the performance of the Amidovski-Pazii-Wellenreiter line, coach Oulahen has been very happy with their play as of late.
“I can’t say enough about those three guys right now, for the last three weeks for sure they’ve really gelled as a unit, him (Pazii), Amidovski and Wellenreiter. A lot of speed, they make plays with each other, they’re that dog on a bone kind of identity we like to play with, they have that.”
The final five minutes of the game Ottawa looked exhausted, on game two of a back-to-back, down an entire line of forwards and being repeatedly battered by the Battalion; it’s hard to blame them.
With the 67’s goaltender pulled, Nick Wellenreiter sent a 150ft shot straight into the empty net.
Final shots on goal were 30 for North Bay, 28 for Ottawa.
The Battalion will play their next match against another eastern conference rival, and possible first round matchup, the Brantford Bulldogs, on Thursday March 13th at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m.