OHL North Bay Battalion

Guelph Outlasts Battalion 5-4

Published on February 28, 2014 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Robby Fabbri and Zack Mitchell each had one goal and one assist to pace the Guelph Storm to a 5-4 victory over the North Bay Battalion in a hard-fought Ontario Hockey League game Thursday night.

Stephen Pierog, Kerby Rychel and Jason Dickinson also scored for Guelph, which boasts the OHL's best record, a won-lost-extended log of 47-10-3 for 97 points atop the Midwest Division. Goaltender Matthew Mancina made 34 saves before a crowd of 3,550 .

Barclay Goodrow had one goal and one assist for the Battalion, which also got goals from Miles Liberati, Vincent Praplan and Connor Jarvis. Goaltender Brendan O'Neill faced 28 shots for the Troops, 32-23-6 for 70 points, tied for first place in the Central Division with the Sudbury Wolves, who hold a game in hand.

"Our effort was pretty good," said Battalion coach Stan Butler, whose charges trailed 2-0 and 5-2 to the league ' s highest-scoring team. "Some of the mistakes we made really hurt us, and that's what happens when you play against a really good team. When you make a critical mistake, it ends up in the back of your net.

" We were 2-2 going into the third period. We bounced back from being two goals down and tried to come back from three goals down, and from that perspective our guys played hard and didn't quit."

The Battalion had several early chances, but Fabbri opened the scoring with his 40th goal of the season at 14:47 of the first period. Steven Trojanovic's shot caromed off the end boards to Fabbri, who converted from deep in the left-wing circle.

Pierog struck at 7:47 of the second period, charging through the slot and burying a Nick Ebert feed between O'Neill's pads.

Guelph was whistled for three minor penalties in a span of 2:08 midway in the period, and the Troops, who earlier in the frame killed a two-man disadvantage lasting 1:20, took full advantage, scoring twice in 24 seconds.

Defenceman Liberati collected his sixth goal of the season, and his fifth with the Troops, with North Bay enjoying a two-man advantage at 11:39, snapping a Nick Paul feed past a screened Mancina from the top of the left circle. Praplan then tied it with his 18th goal. Mike Amadio slid the puck through the goalmouth to Praplan, who converted at the left lip of the crease.

Rychel scored the first of three straight Guelph goals, at 5:01 of the third period. Justin Auger drove hard to the net but couldn't slide the puck behind O'Neill. The disc came to a stop in the crease, and Rychel toppled over the prone O'Neill to poke it over the goal line.

The Battalion got into penalty trouble, and Dickinson scored on the power play at 8:40, three seconds after a two-man advantage lasting 25 seconds expired. Mitchell netted the eventual winner at 12:53, beating O'Neill high to the glove side from the left circle.

Jarvis set up the late Battalion rally with his goal at 14:10. Jamie Lewis barged to the net from the left-wing corner, and the puck floated into the deep slot, deflecting off Jarvis ' s glove. Referee Mike Cairns signaled a goal, and the ruling was upheld upon video review.

Goodrow pulled the Troops within one with his team-leading 30th goal at 18:19, tipping a Dylan Blujus shot from the left point into the far side.

O'Neill first went to the bench for a sixth skater with 1:58 left, but the Battalion's quest for the equalizer ended when Goodrow received slashing and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties at 19:47.

The Battalion hosts the Niagara IceDogs at 2 p.m. Sunday.

BATTALION BULLETS: Guelph was the last team to make its first visit of the season to Memorial Gardens ... The Battalion went 4-6-0 against the Midwest Division and 10-11-1 against the Western Conference ... The Troops were 6-5-0 in February ... Jake Smith dressed as O'Neill's backup after missing four games with a sore neck suffered early in a 3-2 home-ice loss Feb. 16 to the Oshawa Generals ... Blujus has 97 career assists, one more than Adam Henrich and ninth on the franchise list ... Kyle Locke played his first game against his former teammates, having been acquired in a Dec. 6 trade for a 12th-round pick in the 2014 OHL Priority Selection ... The Battalion was 2-for-5 on the power play. Guelph went 1-for-6 ... Opening line combinations included Amadio centring left winger Ben Thomson and right winger Goodrow, Paul centring left winger Praplan and right winger Matt MacLeod and Brett McKenzie pivoting Jared Steege on left wing and right winger Alex Henriksson. Lewis centred left winger Jarvis and right winger Mathew Santos ... The Battalion was without Riley Bruce, Mike Baird, Zach Bratina and Calvin Gomes ... Mitchell, on a six-game assists streak during which he has earned nine assists, played his 315th game with Guelph, extending the Storm record he set in its previous outing. Mitchell, who turned 21 on Jan. 7, is the OHL's oldest player ... Guelph beat the visiting Battalion 7-2 on Oct. 25 in the teams' other meeting. The Troops ' all-time won-lost-tied record against the Storm is 22-22-4 ... Brent Coulombe was the other referee.

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