OHL North Bay Battalion

Guertler's Goal Keeps Greyhounds Unbeaten

Published on October 17, 2014 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Gabe Guertler scored at 15:34 of the third period to lift the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds to a 5-4 victory over the North Bay Battalion in a spirited Ontario Hockey League game Thursday night.

The win was the eighth in a row to start the season for the Greyhounds, who remain the OHL's only undefeated team while holding a seven-point lead over the second-place Sarnia Sting in the West Division.

Jean Dupuy had one goal and three assists for Sault Ste. Marie, which also got goals from Zachary Senyshyn, Bryan Moore and Jared McCann. Goaltender Brandon Halverson faced 34 shots as the Greyhounds, who never led until Guertler scored, rallied from a 3-1 deficit at the midpoint of the game.

Alex Henriksson, Ray Huether, Brett McKenzie and Miles Liberati scored for North Bay, which got 24 saves from goaltender Jake Smith. A Memorial Gardens crowd of 3,433 took in the Pink in the Rink Night game in support of breast cancer awareness.

The loss was the first in regulation time for the Battalion, which has a won-lost-extended record of 3-1-3 for nine points, second in the Central Division.

"It was a game of mistakes by both teams," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "Both goalies let in some really weak goals. You have to give their guy credit. At the end he made a couple of big saves when he had to."

Defenceman Liberati gave the Troops a 4-3 lead at 2:35 of the third period when he put a wrister over Halverson's glove from the left-wing circle off a rush.

The Greyhounds thought they tied it 12 seconds later when Guertler converted a loose puck in the goalmouth, but referee Korey Bannerman waved the play off, ruling that Senyshyn interfered with Smith.

The visitors found the equalizer at 7:37 when Dupuy dished the puck to McCann, who drove alone up the middle to snap the disc past Smith's blocker.

The winner by Guertler, who also had an assist, came from the inner edge of the left circle when he tipped home Medric Mercier's left-point shot.

Smith went to the bench for a sixth skater with 54 seconds left, but Henriksson missed the net from the slot and Halverson stopped a long-range attempt by Brenden Miller in the final seconds.

Henriksson took advantage of a Halverson miscue to open the scoring at 5:37 of the first period. The goaltender went behind the net to play a Marcus McIvor dump-in, losing his balance as the puck bounced awkwardly off the end boards. It landed in the crease, where Henriksson arrived to tap it into the gaping net.

Dupuy responded at 15:41, fishing the puck from a scrum in front of Smith and slipping it inside the right post.

Huether scored 13 seconds into the second period, executing a nifty backhand move to put the puck inside the right post from in tight. The unassisted goal was Huether's first since being acquired from the Sudbury Wolves in an Oct. 5 trade.

Three minor penalties, the last two to the Greyhounds, gave the Troops a two-man advantage scheduled to last 41 seconds, and they capitalized at 5:14. Zach Bratina stormed past defender Colton White and made a back pass that McKenzie buried for his first goal of the season.

But Senyshyn struck at 11:39, snapping a Dupuy feed from behind the net over Smith's glove, and Moore tied it 3-3 at 16:49 with the teams skating four a side. Moore wheeled behind the net and banked the puck off Smith from a sharp angle to the goaltender's left. Halverson drew the lone assist.

North Bay hosts the Mississauga Steelheads at 2 p.m. Sunday.

BATTALION BULLETS: The pink-accented sweaters were available to fans via a silent auction. There also were pink T-shirts for sale and a chuck-a-puck contest in support of the cause ... The Battalion went 1-for-5 on the power play. Sault Ste. Marie was 0-for-5 ... McIvor played a 263rd game to assume sole possession of fifth place on the franchise's career list, one ahead of Chris Rowan ... The Battalion's Mike Amadio had a four-game assists streak snapped. He earned five assists in the span ... Opening line combinations included Amadio centring left winger Nick Paul and right winger Henriksson, McKenzie centring left winger Bratina and right winger Mathew Santos and Huether pivoting Jared Steege on left wing and right winger Hampus Olsson. David Sherman centred left winger Owen Green and Zach Poirier on right wing ... The Battalion scratched Riley Bruce, Mike Baird, Mark Shoemaker and Calvin Gomes ... Moore's brother Kyle, a right winger, was the Battalion's fifth-round pick in the OHL Priority Selection last April. He is with the junior A Powassan Voodoos ... The Greyhounds' Blake Speers saw the end of a seven-game points streak during which he had four goals and nine assists for 13 points. He also had a five-game assists streak ended ... The teams face off at Sault Ste. Marie on Jan. 30 in the second of four meetings ... Scott Oakman was the other referee.

Check out the North Bay Battalion Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 17, 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