
Barrie Blanks Battalion
December 12, 2021 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release
NORTH BAY, Ont. - Evan Vierling scored shorthanded at 12:30 of the third period and goaltender Mack Guzda made 26 saves for the shutout as the Barrie Colts edged the North Bay Battalion 1-0 Sunday for a sweep of their Ontario Hockey League home-and-home series.
Overager Guzda, acquired in a Nov. 19 trade from the Owen Sound Attack, foiled a third-period penalty shot in his first shutout of the season and the sixth of his OHL career as Barrie improved its won-lost-extended record to 13-7-2 for 28 points, third in the East Division.
Goaltender Dom DiVincentiis made 29 saves for North Bay, 16-8-3 for 35 points atop the division, before a season-high Memorial Gardens crowd of 2,681 on Indigenous Youth Day.
Barrie, which has won its last five games, prevailed 3-2 via shootout at home Saturday night.
The Troops, already missing a pair of regulars in Kyle Jackson and Tnias Mathurin, were without Paul Christopoulos, who played at Barrie but didn't appear after the second period. He was upended in a 5-4 overtime win Thursday night over the visiting Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
The Battalion's Matvey Petrov saw the end of a 12-game points streak in which he scored nine goals and earned 17 assists for 26 points.
"I thought our goaltender, Dom, played outstanding today to give us a chance," said coach Ryan Oulahen. "Outside of that, I thought we just showed a little bit of tiredness, and a lot of time, when you're fatigued, your mental mind goes first, followed by the body."
With Cooper Matthews serving a tripping call, Nathan Allensen's pass sent Ethan Cardwell and Vierling breaking unimpeded into the Battalion zone. DiVincentiis denied Cardwell driving up the middle before Vierling cashed the rebound from the goaltender's right. It was Vierling's eighth goal of the season.
North Bay, which killed a bench minor for too many men on the ice issued at 13:36, got minimal benefit from a hooking call to Cardwell at 19:40, despite DiVincentiis having given way to a sixth skater.
Michael Podolioukh was awarded a penalty shot when he was hauled down on a break-in at 11:35 of the period with the teams still deadlocked without a goal, but Guzda made the save.
Brandon Coe cruised across Guzda's crease in the first minute of the middle frame but couldn't convert, and Petrov coughed up the puck to Jacob Frasca for a solo effort in the fifth. DiVincentiis foiled Cardwell with the right pad on a backdoor play in the ninth minute and denied a driving Oskar Olausson shortly thereafter.
The teams split 20 shots evenly in a fast-paced first period, with five minor penalties called, three against Troops, starting with a questionable tripping call to DiVincentiis. Allensen went off for slashing Petrov in alone midway in the frame.
Ian Lemieux, banished for tripping at 10:44, emerged from the penalty box to take a breakaway pass at the Battalion blue line, but DiVincentis denied him on the first shot and the rebound.
The Battalion plays host to the Niagara IceDogs at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Teddy Bear Toss game, presented by The Brick.
BATTALION BULLETS: Indigenous Youth Day featured a pregame ceremony with Chief Scott McLeod of Nipissing First Nation, North Bay mayor Al McDonald and First Nations youngsters Zach Sawyer and Nesewin Fisher. An information booth was set up in the concourse, and prizes included a Battalion sweater signed by rookie Dalyn Wakely, a member of the Curve Lake First Nation north of his native Peterborough, who took the ceremonial faceoff for the Troops. Wakely was featured in the video 'Everyone Has A Spark' in the first intermission, and others played throughout the game. The Honour Song was sung by Burning Plains, and Constable Chantal Larocque of the Anishinabek Police Service sang O Canada in three languages. Rylan Fisher, a First Nations youth, provided Air Support for the Troops. Coaches wore themed lapel pins, and some players used orange tape on their sticks ... Each team went 0-for-5 on the power play ... Apart from Christopoulos, Mathurin and Jackson, the Battalion scratched Chase MacQueen-Spence ... Wyatt Kennedy made his OHL debut after being recalled from the junior A Rockland Nationals of the Central Canada Hockey League, with whom he has two assists in 13 games. The six-foot-four, 185-pound defenceman was a third-round pick by North Bay in the 2021 OHL Priority Selection from the Nationals U18 ... Aaron Neely and Andrew Willmetts were the referees.
Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 12, 2021
- Mason McTavish Named to Hockey Canada's National Junior Team - Peterborough Petes
- Barrie Blanks Battalion - North Bay Battalion
- Jordan Frasca and the Frontenacs Beat the Steelheads 5-3 - Kingston Frontenacs
- Steelheads Come Close against the Frontenacs - Brampton Steelheads
- Generals Return Home to Face Petes - Oshawa Generals
- D'Amato's Pair, Terrance's First Game-Winning Goal Gifts Otters 4-3 Win - Erie Otters
- Game Day Preview: Frontenacs vs. Steelheads - Kingston Frontenacs
- Williamson Moves to 10th All-Time Winningest OHL Coach - Barrie Colts
- Frontenacs Beat the IceDogs 5-2 for Their 7th Straight Victory. - Kingston Frontenacs
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