OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion Ends Skid, Nets Playoff Spot

Published on February 27, 2015 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


BARRIE, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion did double duty Thursday night, snapping a four-game losing streak while clinching a playoff berth in the Ontario Hockey League's Eastern Conference.

Miles Liberati's goal at 17:43 of the second period was the winner as the Battalion rallied to defeat the Barrie Colts 4-2 for its first victory since a 5-2 decision Feb. 15 over the visiting Sudbury Wolves.

Hampus Olsson had one goal and one assist and Brett McKenzie and Nick Moutrey, into an empty net, also scored for the Battalion, which moved its won-lost-extended record to 29-17-11 for 69 points, second in the Central Division and fourth in the conference. Goaltender Jake Smith made 17 saves.

Neither Sudbury nor the Mississauga Steelheads can overhaul the Battalion for a conference quarterfinal berth.

Joseph Blandisi and Justin Scott scored for Barrie, which lost a second straight game and is 37-20-2 for 76 points, first in the division and second in the conference. The Colts, who fell 3-0 Wednesday night to the host Owen Sound Attack, are 9-3-0 in their last 12 games. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood faced 35 shots before a crowd of 3,644.

North Bay, which trailed 2-0 after Scott's goal 40 seconds into the second period, tied it with two goals 14 seconds apart in the middle of the frame.

McKenzie struck on the power play at 11:15, snapping a Ryan Kujawinski feed into the top corner from the top of the right-wing circle. Zach Shankar earned the second assist on McKenzie's eighth goal of the season.

Olsson collected his fifth goal at 11:29 when he banged the rebound of a Ray Huether shot between Blackwood's legs from the goalmouth. Marcus McIvor had the other assist.

Mathew Santos set up the winner with a sterling individual display, battling several defenders down the right wing and into the corner before dishing the puck to defenceman Liberati, darting to the net. Olsson picked up the second assist on Liberati's 10th goal.

A turnover led to the Colts' first goal, at 12:44 of the opening period. McKenzie couldn't corral a bouncing puck in Battalion territory, and Garrett Hooey pushed the disc to Blandisi, who put a wrister past Smith's glove.

The Battalion outshot Barrie 13-6, testing Blackwood a number of times. The goaltender made back-to-back saves against Santos on the power play in the 17th minute and came up with stops on Liberati, Kujawinski and Kyle Wood, who also narrowly missed converting the rebound of a Nick Paul shot.

At the other end, Brendan Lemieux fired a shot off the crossbar in the final seconds.

Scott doubled the hosts' lead in the first minute of the second period. Kevin Labanc's shot off the left wing bounced off the end boards and landed in the deep slot, where the charging Scott chipped it home.

There was no shortage of action at either end in the third period before Moutrey, with Blackwood gone for a sixth attacker, sealed the win by putting the puck into an empty net at 19:26. Paul had the lone assist.

Santos and Mike Amadio tested Blackwood before Kujawinski shot wide on a breakaway in the ninth minute, having drawn a penalty on Labanc. Soon after that, Blackwood foiled Liberati, just out of the penalty box, on a breakaway feed from Huether.

Smith made a fine save on Blandisi at the right post in the second minute and was solid on an Andrew Mangiapane backhander in close in the seventh. Liberati then dumped Hooey on top of the goaltender, who was briefly shaken up. Smith foiled Labanc in the 11th minute and got the blocker on a Blandisi drive in the last minute with Blackwood on the bench.

The Battalion visits the Kitchener Rangers at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on TVCogeco Cable 12 and heard on Country 600 CKAT.

BATTALION BULLETS: McIvor played his 313th game, tying Barclay Goodrow for the most in franchise history. Overager McIvor was the Troops' first-round choice in the 2010 OHL Priority Selection, when they still were based in Brampton ... Paul has 129 career points, tied with Matt Duchene for 22nd place on the franchise list. Paul has 69 goals and 60 assists in 181 games. He has an eight-game points streak, during which he has scored seven goals and earned three assists for 10 points. Paul had six goals in six games against Barrie this season ... Liberati set a career high for goals, eclipsing the nine he had last season, including eight with North Bay ... The Battalion went 1-for-4 on the power play. Barrie was 0-for-3 ... Opening line combinations featured Paul centring McKenzie on left wing and right winger Moutrey, Amadio centring Kujawinski on left wing and right winger Alex Henriksson and Huether pivoting Olsson on left wing and right winger Santos. Wingers Mike Baird and Zach Poirier had various centres as the Troops dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen ... The Battalion was without Owen Green, Zach Bratina and Brenden Miller, who has a sore hip ... Blandisi leads the OHL with 47 goals and nine shorthanded scores, while Lemieux is first in power-play goals with 24 ... North Bay went 3-1-2 against Barrie this season.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 27, 2015


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