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OHL North Bay Battalion

Niagara Closes to Two Behind Battalion

March 12, 2016 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Niagara IceDogs served notice Saturday night that their battle with the North Bay Battalion for Ontario Hockey League playoff positioning is going down to the wire.

Seven different players scored, all at even strength, to propel Niagara to a 9-2 rout of the Battalion, pulling the IceDogs within two points of the Troops in the fight for second place in the Central Division and third in the Eastern Conference.

Jordan Maletta contributed two goals and one assist, Pavel Jenys scored two goals, Aaron Haydon recorded one goal and three assists and Christopher Paquette, Anthony DiFruscia, Johnny Corneil and Graham Knott each had one goal and two assists for Niagara, which got 27 saves from goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic before 4,799 at the Meridian Centre.

The IceDogs, who scored five unanswered third-period goals, won a fourth straight game to move their won-lost-extended record to 33-25-6 for 72 points. North Bay, which has three games left on its schedule to Niagara's four, is 32-23-10 for 74 points.

The Barrie Colts have clinched first place in the division, and the Kingston Frontenacs are first in the East Division, seven points ahead of Barrie for top spot in the conference. The first four finishers have home-ice advantage in the opening playoff round.

The lone bright spot for the Battalion, which played the last of five consecutive away games and completed a three-game road trip, was Mike Amadio's 48th goal of the season, which broke the franchise record set by Wojtek Wolski in 2005-06.

Steve Harland also scored, while goaltender Jake Kment faced 38 shots for North Bay, playing a man short after Zach Poirier was handed a five-game suspension earlier in the day.

Paquette opened the scoring at 1:03 of the first period when he drove to the net and shoveled a loose puck between Kment's pads from the lip of the crease. Maletta struck at 11:02, finishing off a three-way passing play by directing home a DiFruscia pass.

Harland replied at 15:47, stripping Haydon of the puck and roofing the rubber over the sprawling Nedeljkovic.

Defenceman Haydon was credited with his fifth goal at 3:24 of the second period when his shot from the blue line caromed off the glass behind Kment and hit the goaltender before ending up in the net.

DiFruscia dashed past Zach Shankar, who failed to corral a bouncing puck at centre ice, and beat Kment on a forehand deke at 12:58 for a 4-1 lead.

Amadio set the Battalion's single-season standard at 17:16, taking a pass from Maurizio Colella and ripping the puck behind Nedeljkovic to the stick side from the top of the left-wing circle.

Kment faced 10 shots in the period and made several strong saves, including two in the last minute when he kicked away a Stephen Harper drive and slid across the crease to thwart Josh Ho-Sang.

Jenys scored at 3:27 of the final period with the Battalion's Mathew Santos down behind the play after a Ryan Mantha check sent him crashing into linesman David Jaskula at the Niagara bench, and Corneil tipped home a Haydon shot at 3:58.

Knott struck at 9:01 on a cruise across the goalmouth, and Maletta drove to the net to beat Kment 12 seconds later. It was Maletta's team-leading 34th goal. Jenys finished the scoring at 11:42.

The Battalion plays host to the Sudbury Wolves at 7 p.m. Thursday.

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