OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion Barrage Buries Belleville

March 7, 2014 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion took advantage of a bull market on offence Thursday night.

The Battalion, getting goals from seven different players in setting a season high for offensive output, routed the Belleville Bulls 8-1 to post its first win in three Ontario Hockey League games.

Nick Paul scored two goals, Brett McKenzie contributed one goal and two assists and Mathew Santos and Zach Bratina each had one goal and one assist for the Battalion, which also got goals from Ben Thomson, Brenden Miller and Miles Liberati. Goaltender Jake Smith made 25 saves before a crowd of 3,075.

The Battalion has a won-lost-extended record of 33-24-6 for 72 points, second in the Central Division, two points behind the idle Sudbury Wolves, and fourth in the Eastern Conference. Both North Bay and Sudbury have five games left, including two head-to-head clashes.

Starting goaltender Michael Giugovaz allowed two goals in just over two minutes for Belleville before being replaced by Charlie Graham, who surrendered six goals on 18 shots. Giugovaz returned for the third period, facing a total of 13 shots in the game. Chad Heffernan scored for the Bulls, 20-38-6 for 46 points, fifth in the East Division and 10th in the conference.

"It was one of those games that you don't get very often, where everything seems to go your way," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "It wasn't an 8-1 game. It just seemed like every chance we got ended up in the back of their net. They had a lot of chances and missed the net. All the bounces went our way. I don't believe Belleville ever gave up. They played hard right to the end of the game."

The Battalion scored a season-high five goals in a period in the opening frame, with Thomson igniting the outburst with his 25th goal of the season and his 22nd with the Troops at 1:21. Thomson buried a pass from Barclay Goodrow, who received a loud ovation when it was acknowledged that he has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the National Hockey League ' s San Jose Sharks.

Santos sent Giugovaz to the bench 1:01 later, converting the rebound of a Marcus McIvor point shot from a sharp angle to the goaltender's right, and Paul struck at 8:46, finishing a driving three-on-two rush by beating Graham low to the stick side from between the circles on assists by Matt MacLeod and Dylan Blujus.

Bratina, returning to action after losing five games to a concussion, scored his 10th goal and his fifth with the Battalion at 14:15. Bratina, stationed alone in the deep slot, took a Santos feed and stepped around a sprawling Graham to backhand the puck home.

Paul capped the first-period onslaught with his 25th goal at 15:53. Cruising down the left wing, Paul attempted a pass to MacLeod, but the puck caromed off defender Alex Yuill back to Paul, who banked the disc off the collapsing Graham.

Defenceman Miller scored his eighth goal on the power play at 3:57 of the second period, winging a shot from the high slot, and rushing blueliner Liberati connected from the left circle over Graham's glove at 10:10. It was Liberati's seventh goal and his sixth with the Troops.

Heffernan scored at 16:06. Justin Bean's shot from the right point was blocked in front by Liberati, but the puck went to Heffernan, who pitched it over Smith.

McKenzie netted his ninth goal at 18:57, charging to the net to take a pass from Bratina deep on the right wing and slipping the rubber between Graham's pads.

The Battalion outshot Belleville 9-7 in the scoreless third period.

The Battalion visits the Mississauga Steelheads at 7:30 p.m. Friday, when Belleville visits Sudbury. The Mississauga game can be seen live in North Bay on TVCogeco Cable 12.

BATTALION BULLETS: Season attendance reached 102,979, extending a franchise record and representing an average of 3,322 per game over 31 home dates ... The eight goals were the most scored by a North Bay team at home since the Centennials defeated the Mississauga IceDogs 8-5 on Nov. 28, 2001 ... The Battalion scored six goals in a game three times previously this season and four goals in a period twice previously ... Goodrow earned two assists to push his career total to 98, ranked 10th in franchise annals and one behind Blujus, who also had two assists ... In 286 games, MacLeod has 52 goals and 72 assists for 124 points, tied with Michael Vernace for 22nd in franchise history ... Vincent Praplan, who earned two assists, has a season-high four-game points streak during which he has two goals and four assists for six points ... Smith, who saw his first action against Belleville this season, is 20-12-4. He denied Cameron Brace on a shorthanded breakaway just before Miller ' s goal ... MacLeod and Adam Bignell squared off in a second-period fight ... The Battalion was back in its standard green-based sweaters and socks after wearing white in a 5-2 loss Sunday to the Niagara IceDogs. Niagara, on a two-game Northern Ontario trip, agreed to wear black Saturday night against Sudbury, which sported vintage white uniforms with green trim ... The Troops went 1-for-4 on the power play. Belleville was 0-for-4 ... The Battalion scratched Kyle Locke, Mike Baird, Connor Jarvis and Calvin Gomes ... The Battalion went 3-1-0 against Belleville this season.

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