OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion Hits Road for Weekend Pair

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


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The surging North Bay Battalion opens a two-game road trip with a visit to the Plymouth Whalers at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.

It ' s the last multiple-game trek of the Ontario Hockey League season for the Battalion, which blanked the visiting Sudbury Wolves 2-0 Thursday night to pull into a first-place tie with the losers atop the Central Division. The Troops visit the Windsor Spitfires at 2:05 p.m. Sunday.

The Battalion has a won-lost-extended record of 28-18-6 for 62 points, the same as Sudbury, which holds a game in hand at 27-16-8. The Wolves continue on the road in coming days, visiting the Niagara IceDogs on Saturday night and the Kitchener Rangers on Sunday night.

Goaltender Jake Smith made 25 saves for the shutout against Sudbury, securing the blanking and the victory with two notable late plays.

Smith denied Mathew Campagna on a penalty shot awarded by referee Steve Picco at 14:47 of the third period, outwaiting the shooter as he misplayed a forehand deke and lost the puck into the left-wing corner without getting off a shot. Smith then snared a left-point drive by Dominik Kahun at 19:38 with Sudbury goaltender Franky Palazzese gone to the bench for a sixth skater.

It was the second shutout in 54 OHL appearances for second-year goaltender Smith, who had 22 saves in a 4-0 decision Dec. 1 at Kitchener.

Barclay Goodrow scored his 24th goal of the season and his seventh game-winner, both representing team-leading totals, in the second period, and Vincent Praplan added third-period insurance for the Battalion, which won a third consecutive game, pushing its record in the last 13 games to 10-2-1.

The teams concentrated on end-to-end hockey after two first-period fights, one of which saw Alex Henriksson dominate Nathan Pancel, Sudbury ' s primary offensive producer with a team-leading 39 goals and 24 assists for 63 points, tied for the top team total with Nicholas Baptiste, who missed a second straight game with concussion-like symptoms.

" They ' re a frustrating team to play against, but I ' m more frustrated with our play tonight, " Wolves coach Paul Fixter told Sudbury ' s Northern Life.

Sudbury suffered a second straight shutout, having lost 3-0 at home last Saturday night to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, and is without a goal in the last 160 minutes, eight seconds. The Wolves ' last goal was Kahun ' s power-play tally at 19:52 of the first period of a 3-2 loss last Friday night to the visiting London Knights.

Plymouth, which was to host Sault Ste. Marie on Friday night, is 18-27-5 for 41 points, fourth in the West Division.

Zach Lorentz has 20 goals and 19 assists for a team-leading 39 points in 50 games for the Whalers, while fellow left winger Carter Sandlak has a team-high 21 goals and 13 assists for 34 points in 44 games.

Check out the North Bay Battalion Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 7, 2014


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