OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion Completes Sweep of Wolves

September 1, 2014 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Goaltenders Evan Cormier and Jake Smith combined for an 18-save shutout to backstop the North Bay Battalion to a 4-0 victory over the Sudbury Wolves in Ontario Hockey League preseason action Monday.

Brett McKenzie scored two goals and added an assist and Zach Poirier contributed one goal and one assist to the offence before a Memorial Gardens crowd of 1,456. Hampus Olsson also scored for the Battalion.

Cormier provided nine saves before giving way to Smith at 9:30 of the second period with Sudbury on the power play. Smith made nine saves the rest of the way as the Troops completed an exhibition sweep of the Wolves after a 6-4 road win Sunday.

Goaltender Samuel Tanguay faced 37 shots for Sudbury.

McKenzie, who scored one goal in the previous game, notched two third-period goals to put away the scrappy and frustrated Wolves.

Penalty killer McKenzie raced down the left wing with Poirier on his right and rifled a shot from the top of the circle to make it 3-0 at 4:23. With the teams skating four a side, McKenzie completed the scoring at 14:35, assisted by Poirier.

Olsson opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period, on the power play at 15:40. Olsson, on Tanguay ' s doorstep, tipped home a right-point shot by Miles Liberati. Mike Amadio had the second assist.

The Troops hemmed the Wolves in their own zone through the opening minutes in building a 15-6 edge in first-period shots. Sudbury took three penalties in the frame to North Bay ' s one.

Poirier doubled the Battalion lead at 18:18 of the second period, taking a pass from McKenzie and wiring the puck past Tanguay on a rush down the right wing.

North Bay killed a two-man disadvantage lasting 37 seconds midway in the period as Kyle Locke and Marcus McIvor served roughing and interference penalties respectively.

The Battalion plays the third of six exhibition games when it hosts the Peterborough Petes at 7 p.m. Thursday.

BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion was 1-for-8 on the power play. Sudbury went 0-for-6 ... Opening line combinations included Amadio centring left winger David Sherman and right winger Mathew Santos, Jared Steege centring Olsson on left wing and right winger Calvin Gomes and Nick Paul pivoting left winger Owen Green and right winger Kyle Moore. McKenzie centred left winger Zach Bratina and Poirier on right wing ... Defence pairings saw Zach Shankar with McIvor, Liberati with Mark Shoemaker and Shawn Tessier with Locke ... The Battalion scratched Kyle Wood, Riley Bruce, Mike Baird, Alex Henriksson, Jamie Lewis and Brenden Miller ... McIvor, who served as captain, and Liberati saw their first preseason action ... Sudbury scratched eight players, including Nicholas Baptiste, Jacob Harris, Kyle Capobianco and Nathan Pancel ... Assistant coaches Ryan Oulahen and John Dean again directed the Battalion bench while head coach Stan Butler watched from owner Scott Abbott's box ... The referees were Scott Oakman and Sean Pindar.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from September 1, 2014


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