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North Bay Battalion

MacInnis, Robinson Pace Rangers' Win

February 19, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Ryan MacInnis and Brandon Robinson each scored two goals to power the Kitchener Rangers to a 5-1 Ontario Hockey League victory Thursday night over the North Bay Battalion.

Nick Magyar also scored for the Rangers, who got 26 saves from goaltender Jake Paterson in improving their won-lost-extended record to 27-18-9 for 63 points, fourth in the Midwest Division and fifth in the Western Conference.

Nick Paul scored for the Battalion, 28-15-11 for 67 points, second in the Central Division, five points behind the Barrie Colts, who fell 4-3 to the visiting Owen Sound Attack. Goaltender Jake Smith faced 17 shots for the Troops, third in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand on Barrie, before a crowd of 3,286.

"You have to give Kitchener credit," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "They outworked us from the drop of the puck. Usually our team responds very well, but tonight we didn't do that."

Butler said he was disappointed with his charges' failure to follow the game plan.

"Our players all have to get on the same page. When they don't stick to the game plan, the results are pretty evident. The game plan was to not turn pucks over at the other team's blue line, not to get outworked all over the ice, check from the defensive side of the puck, drive the net and be strong around the net and not lose battles. That's what I consider "˜Battalion hockey,' and we didn't do that. We didn't pay the price."

MacInnis opened the scoring at 16:53 of the first period. Smith stopped Frank Hora's shot from the right point, but MacInnis was alone on the left side for the rebound.

North Bay outshot the visitors 11-8, testing Paterson several times, but he turned away two shots from Kyle Wood and chances by Ray Huether, Brett McKenzie and Nick Moutrey. Smith was sharp, stopping Adam Mascherin's net drive off the left wing and a hard shot from the edge of the left-wing circle by Max Iafrate.

Robinson made it 2-0 at 10:31 of the second period, chipping a loose puck over Smith from the lip of the crease, and MacInnis added to the lead at 16:38 on a sequence that appeared offside. Mascherin grabbed a Brenden Miller turnover at the Battalion blue line and fed the puck to MacInnis, who hammered it over Smith's glove.

Paul responded with a power-play goal at 19:33, snapping the puck from the right circle through traffic off the far post into the net. Wood and Mike Amadio assisted on Paul's team-leading 28th goal.

Paul also started a great scoring chance in the 13th minute when Paterson failed to handle Paul's shot off the left wing. The puck trickled through the slot as a defender attempted to clear it, and Alex Henriksson, facing an empty net, was unable to get the disc to settle down.

Robinson, a former member of the Battalion, scored his team-leading 23rd goal unassisted at 2:11 of the third period. He followed Mascherin to the net and buried a loose puck as Smith dealt with traffic in the goalmouth.

Magyar connected on the power play at 13:02, racing into Battalion territory, stepping around Austin Kosack and beating Smith with a backhand deke.

North Bay had nine shots in the period, but Paterson was solid, getting his blocker on a Miller attempt from the deep slot in the 15th minute, finding a Wood drive through traffic in the 14th and making two stops on Ryan Kujawinski at the lip of the crease in the 18th.

The Battalion visits the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at 7:07 p.m. Friday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on TVCogeco Cable 12 and heard on Country 600 CKAT.

BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion, 16-7-5 at home, suffered its first loss at Memorial Gardens in seven games since a 3-0 setback Jan. 22 to the Saginaw Spirit ... Paul, who returned after sitting out a game with flu, extended a points streak to five games during which he has six points, including four goals. The goal was his 125th career point, eclipsing Michael Vernace for sole possession of 23rd place on the franchise list. Paul has 66 goals and 59 assists in 178 games ... The Battalion was 1-for-5 on the power play. Kitchener went 1-for-4 ... Opening line combinations included Amadio centring left winger Paul and right winger Henriksson, McKenzie pivoting Kujawinski on left wing and right winger Moutrey and Huether centring Hampus Olsson on left wing and right winger Mathew Santos. Defenceman Zach Shankar centred left winger Owen Green and Zach Poirier on right wing ... The Battalion was without Zach Bratina, Mark Shoemaker and Mike Baird, who was suffering from flu ... Robinson was the Troops' first-round pick in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection when the franchise was based in Brampton. He was traded to Kitchener last season in a deal for fellow left winger Ben Thomson ... Kitchener's Darby Llewellyn saw the end of a five-game points streak in which he had three goals and six assists for nine points.

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