The North Bay Battalion took on the visiting Saginaw Spirit at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens on Sunday afternoon in what would turn out to be a heated battle. Ultimately, the Spirit took down the Battalion 8-3 to a crowd of 3,204.
“We’re just going to flush this game,” Battalion head coach Ryan Oulahen said.
“We’ve just got to rest and recover. We got nine games left here and it’s go time, and frankly it is that simple, and it’s the truth."
With Ottawa now only one point behind the Battalion in the standings it is indeed “go time.” This team can play at a high level, and they are going to have to, especially when their next four opponents are from the eastern conference, one of them being Ottawa.
First though, they will have to get through Niagara.
“They’re very offensive minded. They beat the best team in the CHL to get out of their (losing) streak, so you expect them to play their best. And that’s what we’ve got to do right now, and I think we can turn a corner here.”
So what happened in this match to lead to so much talk of the future?
The puck was dropped, and it wouldn’t take long for Saginaw to take control of the game. just seconds after failing to convert on an early power play, Liam Storch (4) would take advantage of a turnover at neutral ice, blowing past Kent Greer just under the blue line and tucking in the puck short side to give Saginaw the early 1-0 lead.
Just 33 seconds later, Saginaw would strike again, this time off the stick of Calem Mangone (27). The 20-year-old winger would gather the puck through a scramble of sticks in front of the Battalion net, extending the visitors' lead to two.
North Bay wouldn’t stay off the scoreboard for long though. In fact, it would be Briir Long getting the play going in his own zone, getting the puck to Nolan Laird (8), who would skate up the ice, cut across the slot, and narrowly squeeze the puck under Papineau’s pad, to bring the Battalion within one.
To close out the flurry of scoring in the first period it would be James Guo finding his seventh of the season through traffic, beating McIvor in the top glove corner, and bringing the scoreline to 3-1. Assists on the play go to Zayne Parekh and Igor Chernyshov.
Period two wouldn’t fare much better for the home team.
Just under five minutes into the frame, a point shot from Xander Velliaris would ping-pong off a few bodies, lastly being Calem Mangone, to bring the score to 4-1.
Six minutes later, after Saginaw fought off a 5-3 penalty kill, Michael Misa would speed in and send home the 5-1 goal, his 57th, and chased McIvor from the Battalion net. Backup Jack Lisson would came in to replace him.
After a sixth goal by Chernyshov (14) for the Spirit there would be a bit of push back from the Troops. Bronson Ride would find Jacob Therrien (14) at the top of the Spirit faceoff circle, who would wire in a high wrister, ending the second period 6-2 for the Spirit.
By the third period, tensions had clearly boiled over. The puck hit the ice and so did the gloves of Nick Wellenreiter and Liam Storch. While the definition of a “fight” can vary, especially in junior hockey, the haymakers being thrown between the two left zero room for interpretation.
Ryder Carey and Kaeden Johnston wanted to go as well, even dropping the gloves, but the officiating crew intervened before the two could reach each other.
Either way, this would temporarily rally the Troops as minutes later Zach Wilson in his own zone would hit Zach Wigle (11) with a pass at the Saginaw blue line. Wigle would deke to the backhand on the breakaway, cutting the Spirit lead to 6-3.
That, however, would be the end of the highlights for North Bay.
Michael Misa would force a turnover in the Battalion zone, getting the puck to Chernyshov for the 7-3 goal.
Calgary Flames prospect Zayne Parekh would pick up the final goal of the night to bring the score to 8-3. This goal would also be his 30th goal of the season to become only the second OHL defenceman to have multiple 30 goal seasons. The first to do it?
Bobby Orr.
A Spirited Homecoming
This game also featured a starting matchup between two goalies who have both spent time in the North Bay Trappers AAA organization. For the Saginaw Spirit it is Kaleb Papineau, who spent the 2021-22 season with the North Bay U16 AAA Trappers. This is also Papineau’s fist start in the OHL on his former home ice. For the Battalion it is Mike McIvor, who spent the 22-23 season with the U18 AAA Trappers. Both goalies had the same billet home in the north end of North Bay when they played Trappers AAA hockey.
Papineau, who made 27 saves in the win, was named the game's third star in the Spirit's road win.
“It felt good to come back here and see the rink and see the boys, but I’m just happy we came out with the two points and the boys will have a nice road trip back,” said Papineau, a Cochrane product, when asked what it was like to play in his former home rink.
The last time two former AAA Trappers goalies played against each other was back on January 11, 2020, when Ben Gaudreau's Sarnia Sting edged Zach Roy's Hamilton Bulldogs 4-3 in a shootout.
The Battalion will play the Niagara IceDogs at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens on Thursday March sixth.
Puck drop is at 7:00 pm