NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



North Bay Battalion

Barrie Sweeps Troops out of Playoffs

April 15, 2016 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The Barrie Colts galloped past the North Bay Battalion and into the Ontario Hockey League's Eastern Conference Championship Series on Thursday night.

Andrew Mangiapane scored two goals and added two assists and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 29 saves for the shutout as second-place Barrie defeated third-place North Bay 6-0 to complete a four-game sweep of their conference semifinal.

Cordell James scored two goals, Kevin Labanc had one goal and two assists and Giordano Finoro the other goal for the Colts, who advance to meet the Niagara IceDogs. The Battalion eliminated Barrie in the second round in each of the last two seasons.

Overage goaltender Jake Smith faced 26 shots in his final game with the Troops before 3,517 at Memorial Gardens.

"You could see in this series our depth wasn't there," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "Through the whole series their top line badly outplayed our top line. We relied on our top line to do the damage, and tonight they got damaged. It's tough to chase teams as skilled as they are and, other than Game 2, that's what we did in the whole series. The game where we had the most success and the best chance to win was Game 2, and we couldn't finish that off.

"You never like to lose four games in a row and you never like to lose a playoff series on your own ice. Before the game I was confident we'd come up with a strong effort. I knew we were fighting an uphill battle coming into this series, but I didn't expect it to finish in four games."

The Colts, who survived a flurry of Battalion chances over the first 10 minutes of the first period when the Troops enjoyed two power plays, saw Finoro open the scoring at 12:15 on their second shot, by which time the Troops had 11. Labanc slalomed between defenders and shoved the puck at the net. Mangiapane tapped it to Finoro for the conversion on the left side.

The teams were skating four a side when Labanc connected at 18:15, ripping the puck from the right-wing circle between the pads of Smith, who was screened by Cam Dineen.

The Troops, who held an 11-6 edge in shots, tested Blackwood with chances for Brady Lyle, Mathew Santos, Mark Shoemaker and Justin Brazeau. Roy Radke beat Smith high to the stick side from the right circle in the 16th minute, but the puck went off the post. Smith reacted quickly after mishandling the puck behind the net with Mangiapane looming in the fifth minute.

Mangiapane gave Barrie a 3-0 lead at 4:12 of the second period. Rasmus Andersson intercepted a clearing attempt at the blue line and fed the disc to Mangiapane, who scored from the slot.

Blackwood, who denied Santos and Daniil Vertiy whacking at a puck in the goalmouth, stopped power-play chances for Shoemaker and Kyle Wood. The Troops' best chance came in the 18th minute when Blackwood got his left shoulder on a close-range shot by Santos. Zach Poirier just missed converting a Brett McKenzie pass at the lip of the crease in the 13th minute.

The Battalion charged out strong in the first minute of the third period. Blackwood stopped a McKenzie shot off the left wing and followed with a save against Poirier, with McKenzie firing the rebound wide of the open net. Blackwood kicked away a Poirier drive from the right circle in the second minute.

Mangiapane beat Smith to the stick side from the left circle at 6:38, and James was credited with a goal at 15:05, although it appeared Keigan Goetz poked the puck inside the left post. James completed the scoring on the power play at 19:26.

BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion has an all-time won-lost record of 74-87 in playoff games, including 40-40 at home ... Amadio, expected to play professional hockey next year, is second on the franchise's playoff scoring list with a record 22 goals along with 20 assists and 42 points in 53 games ... Wood, also expected to play professionally in 2016-17, is the second-leading playoff scorer among franchise defencemen, with five goals and 29 assists for 34 points ... Overager Santos finished with 23 points, on 13 goals and 10 assists, tied with Kamil Kreps for 11th all-time ... Smith played his 50th postseason game, tying Barclay Goodrow for fifth place on the franchise's all-time list. Smith finished his OHL career as the Battalion's leader in every significant playoff goaltending category, including 27 wins and five shutouts ... The Battalion went 0-for-4 on the power play. Barrie was 1-for-3 ... North Bay scratched Jake Ramalho and Brett Hargrave ... Thirteen of 15 Battalion picks in the OHL Priority Selection last Saturday were introduced. They were Adam McMaster, Rhys Forhan, Mason Snell, Travis Mailhot, Patrick Brown, Rhys Brown, Jordan Spadafore, Alex Robert, Ethan Kirbis, Christian Purboo, Brandon Lucchesi, Tye Lindeman and Connor Gillanders. Andrei Berezinskiy was in Russia, and Ryan Nicol was prepping for an exam.

Check out the North Bay Battalion Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Ontario Hockey League message board...

Ontario Hockey League Stories from April 15, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent North Bay Battalion Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central