OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion Defeats Petes

Published on November 5, 2021 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - Paul Christopoulos and Owen Van Steensel scored six seconds apart in the last minute of the second period, sending the North Bay Battalion to a 6-3 victory over the Peterborough Petes in Ontario Hockey League action Thursday night.

Josh Currie, Dalyn Wakely, Mitchell Russell and Matvey Petrov also scored for North Bay, which improved its won-lost-extended record to 7-5-0 for 14 points, first in the Eastern Conference and Central Division. Van Steensel, whose goal was his first in the OHL, also had an assist, and Ty Nelson contributed two.

Brandon Coe recorded an assist in his 200th career game, while goaltender Joe Vrbetic made 16 saves as the Battalion opened a three-game eastern swing before 2,153 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.

Emmett Sproule, Tucker Robertson and Nick Lardis scored for Peterborough, 4-6-0 for eight points, fifth and last in the East Division. Goaltender Michael Simpson faced 35 shots in his ninth consecutive appearance.

The Battalion was on the power play when Sproule opened the scoring at 6:23 of the first period. Penalty killer Sproule stripped Coe of the puck at the Peterborough blue line and, after eluding the pursuing Nelson, broke in alone on Vrbetic to slip the puck between his pads.

Currie replied at 10:03, ripping a cross-ice pass from Avery Winslow past Simpson's glove from the left-wing circle. Nelson also assisted on Currie's fifth goal of the season.

Robertson connected on the power play at 5:51 of the second period, shoveling a backhander past Vrbetic from the deep slot, and Wakely tied it at 9:24, beating a screened Simpson with a low drive from inside the blue line. Van Steensel and Simon Rose assisted on the sixth goal for Wakely, who has scored in each of the last four games.

Lardis put the Petes ahead 3-2 at 14:22 with the teams skating four-on-four. Vrbetic foiled Joe Carroll from the high slot, but Lardis converted the rebound.

The Troops erupted late, when Christopoulos banged a loose puck past Simpson at the left post at 19:23, with Nelson and Liam Arnsby drawing assists on defenceman Christopoulos's second goal, and Van Steensel scored the winner unassisted at 19:29, firing the puck past Simpson's glove from the left circle after darting unchallenged from centre ice.

Russell struck with North Bay shorthanded at 2:02 of the third period, outracing Brian Zanetti to the puck and putting a wrister past Simpson from the right circle. The unassisted goal, Russell's ninth, was the Battalion's league-leading fifth shorthanded tally. Russell has three, also a league high.

Sloppy play by the Petes led to the last goal, as Russian import Petrov, who delayed and gauged the shot, fired the puck from the left circle over a sprawling Simpson. Kyle Jackson and Coe assisted on Petrov's ninth goal, tied with Russell for the team lead.

The Battalion visits the Kingston Frontenacs at 7 p.m. Friday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.

BATTALION BULLETS: The game was played on the 65th anniversary of the first game of the Peterborough club that became the Petes, a 4-1 Ontario Hockey Association loss to the Toronto Marlboros on Nov. 4, 1956, at Maple Leaf Gardens. Those Peterborough sweaters were adorned with 'TPT', for Toronto Peterborough Transport Company and, in the days of ownership of junior clubs by National Hockey League teams, the TPT Petes, formerly the Kitchener Green Shirts, were operated by the Montreal Canadiens ... It was the second of four games between the teams, after the Battalion won the first 7-4 at home to open the schedule Oct. 7. The Troops visit Peterborough again Nov. 25 ... In 200 OHL games, overager Coe has 58 goals and 76 assists for 134 points, 24th in franchise history, one more than Scott Tanski. Coe, an Ajax, Ont., resident, was North Bay's first-round pick, third overall, in the 2017 OHL Priority Selection from the Toronto Nationals minor midgets ... Wakely has a five-game points streak in which he has five goals and one assist for six points. The Port Hope, Ont., resident was a second-round choice in the 2020 Priority Selection from the Quinte Red Devils minor midgets ... North Bay went 0-for-4 on the power play. Peterborough was 1-for-4 ... The Battalion was without Cam Gauvreau and Nic Sima ... Overager Sproule has a 10-game points streak in which he has six goals and eight assists for 14 points.

Check out the North Bay Battalion Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 5, 2021


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.

OurSports Central