OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion Downs Barrie to Finish Schedule

Published on March 20, 2016 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Cam Dineen scored the only goal in a five-round shootout to give the North Bay Battalion a 3-2 Ontario Hockey League victory Sunday over the Barrie Colts in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Mathew Santos scored both regulation-time goals for the Battalion, which got 24 saves through overtime from goaltender Jake Smith as he extended his franchise record for career wins to 90.

A season-high Memorial Gardens crowd of 3,771 saw the Troops win a third straight game for a won-lost-extended record of 35-23-10 for 80 points, second in the Central Division and third in the Eastern Conference.

The Battalion hosts the sixth-seeded Peterborough Petes at 7 p.m. Friday in the opener of a best-of-seven conference quarterfinal.

Ben Hawerchuk and Anthony Stefano scored for Barrie, 43-22-3 for 89 points, first in the division and second in the conference. Goaltender David Ovsjannikov faced 42 shots through overtime for the Colts, who meet the seventh-seeded Mississauga Steelheads in the first playoff round.

"I was happy for Smith and our players who are probably playing in their last regular-season home game, that they could go out with a win," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "We haven't been great in shootouts, and it looked to me like Jake wasn't going to let a goal in. It was just a matter of how long it was going to take us to eventually score one."

Six seconds after Mike Baird went off for interference, Stefano scored on the power play at 8:59 of the third period to tie the game 2-2.

The Battalion spent much of the rest of the period on the attack. Kyle Potts sent a bouncing puck through the crease with Ovsjannikov out of position in the 12th minute. Mike Amadio failed to get to the rebound of a Maurizio Colella shot in the 18th minute, and Ovsjannikov was tight to the post to deny a Santos wrapround in the final seconds.

North Bay dominated overtime, outshooting the Colts 5-2 and enjoying its best chance in the first minute when Stefano raced back to disrupt Dineen's breakaway effort. Stefano had his own breakaway with 20 seconds left but was thwarted by Smith.

In the shootout, Ovsjannikov stopped Amadio, Santos, Brett Hargrave and Brett McKenzie before Dineen scored high to the glove side. Smith denied Justin Scott, Cordell James, Roy Radke, Stefano and, to seal the win, Zachary Magwood.

Santos opened the scoring unassisted at 18:53 of the first period when Ovsjannikov was unable to corral a loose puck and the disc slid though the crease to Santos, who deposited it into an open net.

The Troops outshot Barrie 13-7 in the period. Ovsjannikov was sharp on two chances for Max Kislinger in the 15th minute, while Smith's biggest save came on a Keigan Goetz drive on the power play in the 17th.

Santos struck shorthanded at 2:13 of the second period. Amadio stripped Matt Brassard of the puck in Barrie territory, faked a shot and fed a pass to Santos, who converted past an out-of-position Ovsjannikov. The goal, Santos's 29th of the season, was the Battalion's 23rd shorthanded goal, second in the league to the Colts' 28.

Barrie cut its deficit to 2-1 on the power play at 8:04 as Hawerchuk beat Smith to the stick side from the mid slot.

Each team generated 10 shots in the frame. The Colts had a good early chance when Radke had Smith down but slid the puck wide of the net, and Smith foiled a forehand deke by Aidan Brown on a breakaway in the 11th minute. The Troops just missed converting on the power play in the 17th minute when Colella's shot got past Ovsjannikov but was cleared from the crease by Hawerchuk. Ovsjannikov reacted quickly to stop an Amadio drive in the final seconds.

BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion honoured its billet families on Pellerin Paints Fan Appreciation Day ... Amadio played his 263rd game, eclipsing Chris Rowan for sole possession of sixth place on the franchise list. Amadio finished with 50 goals and 48 assists for 98 points, the second-highest points total in franchise history behind Wojtek Wolski's 128 in 2005-06 ... Smith went 30-15-7 with a 2.87 goals-against average, a .901 save percentage and one shutout ... Santos scored his seventh career shorthanded goal, tying Kamil Kreps and Cody Hodgson for fourth place on the franchise list ... The Battalion, 4-1-1 against Barrie, went 17-6-3 within the division and 26-13-7 within the conference ... North Bay posted a home record of 23-9-2. Barrie went 18-15-1 on the road ... The Troops were 4-4-1 in regular-season games in March ... The Battalion went 0-for-4 on the power play. Barrie was 2-for-5 ... North Bay dressed 17 skaters, one below the limit, scratching Riley Bruce, Zach Poirier and Daniil Vertiy ... Colella turns 19 on Monday ... Barrie was without Kevin Labanc, Dylan Sadowy, Andrew Mangiapane, Julius Nattinen, Rasmus Andersson, Michael Webster and Mackenzie Blackwood ... The previous high attendance this season was 3,764 for the season opener, a 4-1 loss to Peterborough on Sept. 25.

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