OHL North Bay Battalion

Battalion wins third straight out of gate

Published on September 26, 2004 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


BRAMPTON, Ont. – Defenceman Nick Duff scored at 4:40 of overtime to lead the Battalion to a 4-3 victory Sunday over the Kingston Frontenacs, giving the Troops three wins in as many games to start the Ontario Hockey League season.

It equals the club record, set in 1999-00, of three consecutive wins to open a season and has the Battalion standing atop the Central Division and Eastern Conference.

Overage left winger Dan McDonald forced the extra frame with a power-play goal at 3:39 of the third period. The Troops couldn't capitalize on a roughing penalty in overtime to Kingston's Evan Kotsopoulos but got the winner after the Frontenacs turned the puck over in the neutral zone.

Duff, right winger Luch Aquino and centre Ryan Oulahen broke in alone on Frontenacs goaltender Dayne Davis. Aquino carried the puck through the neutral zone and fed it to Duff, who snapped a wrist shot over Davis's right shoulder for his first regular-season goal in a Battalion uniform.

"I had to come on for Michael Vernace, and he was late coming off," said Duff. "So by the time I got on, I was basically a forward. They turned the puck over, and I looped around and fortunately Luch saw me before we got to their blue line. I knew all along I wanted to go high on his blocker side. I was pretty calm and slowed down little bit. I just didn't want to shoot the puck too high."

Said Battalion coach Stan Butler: "Any time you can get three wins in a weekend in this league it's a huge bonus. In this league, it's really important to build some momentum."

Brock McPherson and J.F. Houle also scored for the Battalion before a crowd of 1,931, while Aquino earned two assists. Goaltender Daren Machesney made 33 saves for his second win of the season.

Dany Revelle had a goal and an assist, and Tony Rizzi and Anthony Stewart also scored for the Frontenacs, who fell to 0-2-0, including one overtime loss. Davis faced 40 shots in the Kingston net.

The visitors opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 4:21 of the first period as Revelle swatted home the rebound of an Adam Nemeth point shot.

McPherson's second goal of the season tied it with the Troops on the power play at 10:06. McPherson drilled a rolling puck under the cross bar from the lip of the crease.

Rizzi put Kingston back in front with a shorthanded goal at 18:59. Revelle stripped Battalion defenceman Tomas Stryncl of the puck at the Kingston blue line and broke in on a two-on-one with Rizzi, who tucked it under Machesney.

Houle made it 2-2 with his first career OHL goal at 5:57 of the second period. Houle took a pass from Stryncl, raced down the left side and snapped a wrist shot that beat Davis high to the glove side.

Stewart put Kingston back in front at 13:05. After taking a pass from Bobby Hughes, Stewart moved down the right side, made a strong move off the wing and fired the puck between Machesney's pads.

Seconds after the goal, Davis came up with a pair of point-blank stops on Luke Lynes and Tyler Harrison. At the other end, a sprawling Machesney foiled the Frontenacs with three saves at the lip of the crease in the 17th minute.

The Troops appeared to be feeling the effects of a heavy early schedule, which saw them play three games in as many days, through the second period, but Oulahen said they were ready to empty the tank heading into the third period.

"Three games in less than three days isn't easy, and in the second period we were really sucking a lot of wind. But we came back in the room and told the guys that we had to leave it all on the ice. We need to treat every weekend like this, almost like a mini playoff series."

Said Butler: "I really thought we took it to them in the third period. We told the guys before we went out that it was now a 20-minute game and we'd spotted them a goal."

Penalty trouble for the Frontenacs led to the equalizer for the Battalion. Six seconds after Kingston defenceman Trevor Waddell was sent off for tripping, referee Terry Hobor issued a crosschecking major and a game misconduct to Nemeth, leaving the visitors facing a two-man disadvantage of 1:54.

The Battalion power play went to work, with McDonald converting a cross-crease pass from Oulahen for his first goal since joining the Troops in a trade from Kingston last Monday.

"Dan's been a good addition to our hockey team," said Butler. "He's a good character kid and he's kind of a power-play specialist."

Davis stoned Wojtek Wolski on a partial breakaway in the 14th minute, and the Frontenacs argued they had earned a go-ahead goal at 16:48, but Hobor ruled that Kyle Raftis's shot from the left point had been redirected with a high stick.

Stuart Simmons, Graham McNabb, Scott Boomsma and Jason Cassidy did not dress for the Battalion. Simmons missed the first three games because of a death in the family.

Kingston was without Michael Kolarz, Derek Lyons and Brendan Duncan.

The Troops are idle until Friday night, when they host the Mississauga IceDogs. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

BATTALION NOTEBOOK: The win was the first in overtime at home for the Battalion since Dec. 7, 2003, when the club beat the Sudbury Wolves 3-2 ... Aquino earned his first career OHL point with an assist on McDonald's goal ... Duff, acquired in a trade from the Kitchener Rangers last Oct. 21, scored one goal in 12 playoff games with the Battalion last spring ... The Troops outshot the Frontenacs 14-5 in the third period and 5-0 in overtime ... Overager Harrison, with an assist on McPherson's goal, is the only Battalion player to have earned a point in each of the first three games. He leads the club in scoring with two goals and two assists for four points ... McDonald said his familiarity with the Frontenacs came in handy. "I talked to the coaches about it before the game, and it was nice to see the guys again," said McDonald. "But I played with a lot of them for three years, so I knew what they would do and how to react to it." ... The Battalion beat the visiting Guelph Storm 5-2 Friday night and took a 2-1 road win over the Sarnia Sting on Saturday night.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from September 26, 2004


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