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OHL North Bay Battalion

It's Trout and out for Now

December 18, 2021 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion wrapped up its pre-Christmas schedule in unexpected fashion Friday night, learning shortly before the game that a Saturday night visit to the Niagara IceDogs was postponed because of coronavirus concerns around that club.

Thus the Battalion entered the Ontario Hockey League's holiday hiatus off a 2-1 loss to the Mississauga Steelheads that propelled the winners into a tie with North Bay atop the Central Division.

The Troops underwent rapid tests before taking to the ice and were cleared to continue. They faced the IceDogs at North Bay in a 7-6 overtime loss Thursday night. Niagara's game Friday night against the host Sudbury Wolves also joined a spate of postponements this week.

Charlie Callaghan's power-play goal at 13:22 of the middle period snapped a 1-1 tie and gave Mississauga the win before a crowd recorded as 1,393. Kai Schwindt also scored and goaltender Roman Basran made 26 saves for the Steelheads, who have a won-lost-extended record of 17-7-2 for 36 points and hold three games in hand on the Battalion, 16-9-4.

Brandon Coe scored the lone Battalion goal and goaltender Joe Vrbetic faced 30 shots as North Bay suffered a season-high fourth straight loss.

The Battalion, which dressed 17 skaters, one below the limit, again was missing four regulars to injuries, in forwards Kyle Jackson and Liam Arnsby and defencemen Paul Christopoulos and Tnias Mathurin.

"We get a few players back from injury for one more game," was coach Ryan Oulahen's succinct commentary on the postponement.

Josh Currie emerged from the penalty box after serving a crosschecking penalty assessed at 14:00 of the third period to race in alone on Basran, who made a game-saving diving glove save. Each team had a player in the box from 17:47, and the Troops besieged the Mississauga net with an extra skater for Vrbetic but failed to force overtime.

Coe opened the scoring on the power play at 4:39 of the second period. Mitchell Russell, to the left of the net, took a pass from Matvey Petrov and slipped the puck to Coe at the back door for the conversion. Coe, with 18 goals and 34 assists for 52 points, is tied with Lucas Edmonds of the Kingston Frontenacs for the OHL scoring lead.

Schwindt replied at 8:08 after the Troops failed to clear their zone. Schwindt cashed his own rebound for his fourth goal of the season.

With Currie off for tripping and another tripping penalty pending to Ty Nelson, Callaghan spun and shot from wide on the right wing for what proved to be the winner. It was the defenceman's second goal.

Mississauga, which forged a 9-7 edge in first-period shots, tested Vrbetic several times. James Hardie missed left on a drive from the mid slot at 7:18. Vrbetic denied Luke Misa on a rush down the right side in the 13th minute and got the blocker on a Hardie effort off a two-on-one rush in the 16th. The goaltender foiled Zander Veccia at the right post at the 18-minute mark.

The game was delayed six minutes early in the period to secure the top of a pane of glass to Vrbetic's left.

The Battalion is scheduled to return to action with another visit to Mississauga on Dec. 29, then play host to the Oshawa Generals at 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 31, in the opener of a home-and-home series.

BATTALION BULLETS: With the visit to the Paramount Fine Foods Centre, the Battalion now has played in all 10 arenas on its road schedule for 2021-22 ... It was the second of 10 meetings, after the Battalion won 7-1 at Memorial Gardens on Oct. 15. They're set to meet five more times by Jan. 28, including three games at North Bay ... In 217 career games, overager Coe has 70 goals and 99 assists for 169 points, tied with Sam Carrick for 13th place on the franchise list ... Petrov is third in OHL scoring with 49 points from 20 goals and 29 assists ... Each team went 1-for-3 on the power play ... Chase MacQueen-Spence, who played against Niagara, remained with the Troops from the affiliated Powassan Voodoos of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, while Rodion Tatarenko returned to the junior A Voodoos ... Wyatt Kennedy, recalled from the junior A Rockland Nationals of the Central Canada Hockey League for his OHL debut Sunday against the visiting Barrie Colts, played a third straight game ... Among the missing for Mississauga were Kasper Larsen and Ole Bjorgvik-Holm, with Denmark and Norway respectively at the Division 1, Group A, section of the World Junior Championship at Horsholm, Denmark ... Mississauga's Max Dodig, serving a six-game suspension, is eligible to return Jan. 13 ... Schwindt marked his 18th birthday ... Drew Jackson and Anthony Tapper were the referees.

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