OHL North Bay Battalion

Bulldogs Bite Troops Early in Overtime

Published on February 25, 2016 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Connor Walters scored 34 seconds into overtime to lift the Hamilton Bulldogs to a 4-3 victory Wednesday night over the North Bay Battalion, ending the Troops' Ontario Hockey League winning streak at four games.

Niki Petti had one goal and two assists, Matt Luff one goal and one assist and MacKenzie Entwistle the other goal for Hamilton, which has a won-lost-extended record of 22-30-7 for 51 points, fourth in the East Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Oshawa Generals, who fell 5-4 in overtime to the visiting Mississauga Steelheads.

Goaltender Connor Hicks made 36 saves for Hamilton before 3,200 at Memorial Gardens.

Mathew Santos and Mike Amadio contributed one goal and one assist apiece and Brett Hargrave the other goal for North Bay, 30-18-9 for 69 points, second in the Central Division and third in the conference. The point garnered guaranteed the Battalion at least a tiebreaker playoff game.

Goaltender Jake Smith faced 27 shots as the Troops lost for the first time since a 6-5 road setback Feb. 13 to the Kingston Frontenacs.

"I thought tonight for the most part we could have competed a lot harder," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "One thing about George Burnett's teams: They never beat themselves. They've had a very good record against the top teams in the league, and you know they're going to come in and be prepared."

Walters, who also had an assist, ended overtime when he moved in from the blue line, sidestepped Steve Harland and put the puck under Smith's left pad from the mid slot. It was defenceman Walters's fourth goal of the season.

Hargrave tied it 3-3 with the only goal of the third period, at 14:26. In the centre on a three-on-two rush, Hargrave took a pass from Harland on the right wing and drove to the net to beat Hicks.

The Battalion's Cam Dineen hit the right post in the 18th minute, and Maurizio Colella was sent in alone on Hicks in the final minute but, with almost the whole net available, saw the goaltender get his left skate on a backhand deke. Amadio hit the post in overtime.

Hamilton, which trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes, tied it on Petti's power-play goal at 3:20 of the second period, two seconds after a two-man advantage lasting three seconds expired.

Entwistle scored at 8:46, tipping Jack Hanley's lob from the left point into the top right corner. Entwistle's fourth goal also was assisted by Adam Laishram.

Luff opened the scoring on the power play at 5:38 of the first period, emerging from behind the net to the left side to jam the puck past the prone Smith.

Santos replied 23 seconds later after Amadio stole the puck high on the left wing and fed Santos alone in the slot. He beat Hicks on a backhand deke for a 25th goal.

Amadio struck with the man advantage at 9:46, moving off the right-wing boards to deep in the circle and wiring the puck behind Hicks. Santos and Dineen assisted on Amadio's 43rd goal and his 13th in the last six games.

Amadio tied Raffi Torres, in 1999-00, and Cody Hodgson, in 2008-09, for the second-most single-season goals by a member of the Battalion, behind Wojtek Wolski's franchise-record 47 in 2005-06. Amadio has the most goals in a season since the move from Brampton in 2013.

The Battalion, which is at Hamilton on Saturday night, opens a two-game road trip with a visit to the Erie Otters at 7 p.m. Friday. The game can be heard live in North Bay on Country 600 CKAT.

BATTALION BULLETS: Amadio is on a 12-game points streak in which he has 15 goals and nine assists for 24 points. He has 85 career goals, one more than Sam Carrick and eighth on the franchise list. Amadio's 129 assists are tied with Hodgson for second place in franchise history ... Santos has a career-high 12-game points streak during which he has 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points ... Harland has a career-high seven-game points streak in which he has two goals and eight assists for 10 points ... The Battalion went 1-for-2 on the power play. Hamilton was 2-for-4 ... Opening lines featured Amadio centring left winger Colella and right winger Santos, Brett McKenzie centring left winger David Sherman and Zach Poirier on right wing and Hargrave centring left winger Max Kislinger and right winger Harland. Kyle Potts pivoted left winger Jacob Ball and right winger Justin Brazeau ... Poirier received a match penalty for slew-footing at 12:38 of the second period and faces a minimum two-game suspension ... The Battalion scratched Jake Ramalho, Mike Baird and Daniil Vertiy ... Vertiy suffered a knee injury in a 9-3 win Sunday over the visiting Peterborough Petes and is to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging exam next week ... With a winter storm expected to hit the area Wednesday, the Bulldogs arrived in North Bay on Tuesday night.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 25, 2016


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