Settle in cowpokes as we take you through Thursday’s game between the North Bay Battalion and Niagara IceDogs.
The Troops found the win column as they took down the Dogs 4-3 on Country Night at Memorial Gardens.
“Good result for us,” head coach Ryan Oulahen said. “Maybe unfortunate to go down on a five on three late and they make it tight, I think it makes it closer than the game really was.
“I really liked our game here tonight.”
Coming into the game, the IceDogs were scuffling, having only won once in their past 15 games.
The Battalion found the ice breaker early in the first. Nick Wellenreiter got the play started as he found Lirim Amidovski cross ice in the neutral zone, before a one touch pass from Amidovski found Ihnat Pazii (5) streaking over the IceDogs blueline. On a partial break, the Ukrainian forward beat netminder Matthew Humphries blocker side.
Late in the first, the Troops managed to rustle up another goal to pad the lead a little. With Matthew Virgilio in the box for a hooking penalty, Jacob Therrien (15) showed off his shot as he beat Humphries on the powerplay.
After the first period, North Bay led 2-0.
Midway through the second period, Niagara pounced. Picking up the puck and firing it cross ice was Alex Assadourian, who found Andrei Loshko (34) alone in the crease for an easy tap in. After some amazing saves earlier in the frame, this was one puck that Mike McIvor could not wrangle.
A few minutes later, North Bay struck to regain the two goal cushion…or so they thought. Jacob Therrien found Andrew LeBlanc up the ice, while he and Ethan Procyszyn found each other on a give and go before the captain corralled it into the open net. However, after further review, the goal was deemed illegal on a missed offside call.
Perhaps proving consequential was the no goal as a few moments after, Niagara tied it. Streaking in, and holding the Battalion defender at bay, Braidy Wassilyn (8) poked the puck past McIvor.
After the second period, the score was knotted at 2-2.
In the third, Niagara found out that when you play with the bull, you’re bound to get the horns. This time, the proverbial bull was a Wassilyn slashing penalty, and the horns was a Jacob LeBlanc (9) snipe from the top of the faceoff dot past Humphries glove to give North Bay the edge.
No stranger to Central Division clashes against the Niagara IceDogs from his days as a Barrie Colt, Zach Wigle (12) put the Battalion up two minutes after. The Troops, fresh off killing of a penalty of their own, were buzzing near Humphries net. Wigle galloped in and poked the puck between Humphries legs to register the goal.
Late in the third the IceDogs brought the game back to within one. With the Battalion dealing with a few proverbial bulls themselves, it was only a matter of time before Niagara hit back with the horns, and hit back they did as Ryan Roobroeck (38) beat McIvor from a sharpe angle just as the final penalty expired.
That was as close as Niagara would get, however, as the Troops held the door closed and ended the game up 4-3.
While the game got tight, Oulahen says it’s a taste of playoff hockey, something North Bay hopes to be a part of in a couple of weeks.
“I’m real confident with the guys that we can get out there in that situation. A lot of our wins have been that way, right? It’s tight, guys are confident six on five. Hopefully we can continue doing that because every game is going to be similar fashion.”
North Bay is back in action Friday when they head to Brampton for a date with the Steelheads. Oulahen says starting off the week right tonight with a win is huge heading into the weekend slate of games.
“That’s what, to me, junior hockey is all about. You try to get that first one, and then it can roll into the weekend.
“We have to recover here, get good sleep, have a good meal tomorrow and get on the bus to Brampton.”
The Battalion will finish off the weekend against the Ottawa 67’s at home, a team directly chasing them for the eighth seed in a suddenly tight Eastern Conference. The 67’s lost a heartbreaker, for them, on Thursday when the Peterborough Petes scored with six seconds left in regulation to win their game 4-3. However, don’t tell Oulahen or the Battalion as they insist they are not scoreboard watching, just focusing on their games.
As for Country Night, if it was a success? Well, just ask Oulahen.
“In my household, it’s on mostly.”
For those wondering, the station that’s on? The Highway. A fitting station for the coach who’s looking to lead his team on the road and into the playoffs.