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OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion Rebounds to Defeat Colts

December 13, 2013 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Barclay Goodrow has done it again.

Goodrow scored two goals to spark a North Bay Battalion rally to a 4-2 Ontario Hockey League victory Thursday night over the Barrie Colts.

Goodrow tied the game 2-2 at 4:46 of the second period and netted the winner on the power play at 14:47 of the third as the Troops extended a season-high winning streak to four games and climbed into a second-place tie with Barrie in the Central Division.

Matt MacLeod contributed one goal and one assist and Vincent Praplan also scored for the Battalion, which rebounded from a 2-0 deficit to move its won-lost-extended record to 17-15-1 for 35 points. Goaltender Jake Smith faced 31 shots before a crowd of 3,021.

Andreas Athanasiou and Kevin Labanc scored for Barrie, 16-12-3. Goaltender Daniel Gibl made 24 saves in his fourth start of the season against the Troops.

"They really took it to us in the first period," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "In the first five or six minutes of the second we came out and got the game back to an even level, and from there it was a heck of a hockey game. We needed to put some wins together before Christmas. We told the players this was a really important stretch of hockey for us and we had to find a way to win as many games as we could.

"With momentum comes confidence, and that's what I felt tonight. At home we haven't always played with the confidence we needed to find a way to win, but tonight when the game was 2-2 our guys stuck to the game plan and found a way to win."

Goodrow, who had two goals and one assist in a 4-3 road win Wednesday night over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, struck for the winner with the Troops skating four on three, snapping a Mike Amadio pass over Gibl's glove from the edge of the left-wing circle. Dylan Blujus also assisted.

The goal was Goodrow's team-leading 20th of the season and the 114th of his OHL career, tying Cody Hodgson for second place on the franchise list.

"He's the guy who throws the switch," said Butler. "He makes the big plays at the big times. Every time we ' ve needed a big play he ' s been the guy to do it. That second goal was a huge one. It was just a rocket of a shot, and he ' s done that for us all season. He's a man on a mission to get a (National Hockey League) contract, and it's to our benefit that he's on our team while he's on that mission."

Praplan gave the Troops a two-goal lead at 16:03 when he banked a shot off Gibl's right pad from a sharp angle on left wing. It was Praplan ' s 13th goal.

Athanasiou opened the scoring at 7:34 of the first period when he took a long pass from Carlos Garcia, broke in alone on Smith and beat him between the legs for a team-leading 15th goal.

Labanc, marking his 18th birthday, scored his fifth goal at 12:35. Justin Scott outmuscled Nick Paul at a faceoff to Smith's left before Labanc moved in and swept the puck into the top corner.

MacLeod's sixth goal pulled the Troops within one at 1:13 of the second period as he buried a rebound at the lip of the crease.

On the tying goal, Ben Thomson steamed down the left wing, chipped the puck past defender Jake Dotchin and fed the disc to Goodrow, who fired it between Gibl's pads from the right circle.  

The Battalion visits the Sudbury Wolves at 2 p.m. Sunday.

BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion went 1-for-3 on the power play. Barrie was 0-for-6 ... It was the teams' fourth of six season meetings. The Colts won two of the first three, 3-1 at home Nov. 9 and 6-0 at North Bay on Nov. 17, while the Battalion prevailed 2-1 via shootout at Barrie on Nov. 23 ... Goodrow has seven goals and three assists for 10 points in the last four games. The game-winner was the 25th of his career, extending the franchise record he set at Sault Ste. Marie ... Blujus recorded his 48th career power-play assist, tying Luke Lynes for fifth place on the franchise list ... Praplan leaves Friday to join the camp of Switzerland's entry in the World Junior Championship to be played at Malmo, Sweden ... The Colts were without defenceman Aaron Ekblad, 17, who was at the first day of the Canadian national junior team's selection camp at Toronto. He also was scratched for Barrie's previous visit to Memorial Gardens. Ekblad, the first overall pick in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection, received exceptional player status from Hockey Canada to play in the OHL a year early at 15 ... Opening line combinations included Amadio centring left winger Thomson and right winger Goodrow, Paul pivoting left winger Blake Clarke and right winger MacLeod and Jamie Lewis centring left winger Praplan and right winger Alex Henriksson. Mathew Santos centred Brett McKenzie on left wing and right winger Calvin Gomes ... Battalion scratches were Kyle Wood, Mike Baird, Connor Jarvis and Jared Steege ... The teams next face off Jan. 16 at North Bay.

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