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North Bay Battalion

Niagara Falls to Battalion

December 5, 2021 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - Brandon Coe scored one goal and assisted on three others as the North Bay Battalion skated to a 5-1 victory Saturday night over the unraveling Niagara IceDogs to sweep a two-game Ontario Hockey League road trip.

Ty Nelson and Mitchell Russell each had one goal and one assist and Avery Winslow and Owen Van Steensel also scored for North Bay, which improved its won-lost-extended record to 15-7-2 for 32 points, first in the Central Division and Eastern Conference.

Goaltender Dom DiVincentiis made 31 saves for the Battalion, which opened the weekend with a 5-2 decision Friday night over the Hamilton Bulldogs. The trip ended a run of five straight road games in which the Troops went 3-1-1.

North Bay was without Kyle Jackson, who was injured at Hamilton when hit into the boards by Ryan Humphrey. With Jackson sidelined, Russell centred Matvey Petrov, who had three assists, and Coe on the top line.

Dakota Betts scored for Niagara, while goaltender Josh Rosenzweig, making a third straight start, faced 28 shots before a season-high crowd of 4,792 at the Meridian Centre. The IceDogs are 6-14-1 for 13 points, last in the division and conference.

The Battalion erupted for three first-period goals in a span of 2:48, starting with Winslow's tally at 11:33. Coe, fed by Petrov, passed off to the onrushing defenceman on the left side, and he wired his first goal of the season past Rosenzweig.

Coe scored his 14th goal at 14:01, one-timing a crisp cross-crease pass from Petrov on the right side with Russell drawing the other assist, and Van Steensel connected for his second goal 20 seconds later off a two-on-one rush with Liam Arnsby against Alec Leonard. That prompted Niagara coach Billy Burke to call a timeout.

North Bay was credited with a 14-5 edge in shots in the period, but the count was exaggerated, as is the norm at Niagara.

Defenceman Betts scored at 6:45 of the second period, driving deep on the left side and converting a pass from Brice Cook, bringing a flood of plush toys from the stands for the IceDogs' Teddy Bear Toss. The game was delayed seven minutes for the cleanup.

Nelson was sent off on a spurious checking-from-behind call at 7:51, and the hosts staged a sustained offensive in the ensuing minutes once Dalyn Wakely, set up by Arnsby, failed to beat Rosenzweig from the slot.

Seconds later, DiVincentiis denied Cooke in alone and robbed Aidan Castle on another chance. The Battalion killed a tripping call to Simon Rose and maintained its two-goal advantage after 40 minutes despite being outshot 16-3 in the frame.

Niagara lost virtually all composure in the third period, as Leonard drew a double minor for checking from behind against Petrov at 8:19 and Andrew Wycisk followed for high-sticking at 10:14, giving the Battalion a two-man advantage scheduled for two minutes. Liam Van Loon was banished for slashing at 12:00, and defenceman Nelson scored on the two-man advantage 16 seconds later.

The Niagara bench was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the goal, and Russell collected his 13th goal with the Troops skating five-on-three at 13:09, redirecting a Nelson shot.

The Battalion plays host to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at 7 p.m. Thursday.

BATTALION BULLETS: It was the teams' second of eight meetings, after the Battalion defeated Niagara 7-3 at Memorial Gardens in its most recent home game Nov. 21. They next face off Dec. 16 at North Bay ... Coe, the OHL's leading scorer with 46 points, has a 13-game points streak in which he has eight goals and 22 assists for 30 points. His 13-game assists streak is the league's longest ... Russian import Petrov has a nine-game points streak in which he has six goals and 15 assists for 21 points ... The Battalion went 2-for-7 on the power play. Niagara was 0-for-5 ... The Troops bused to St. Catharines immediately after the Hamilton game, which saw Ryan Oulahen credited with his 200th OHL game as a head coach, split between the Flint Firebirds and Battalion ... Apart from Jackson, North Bay was without Tnias Mathurin and Josh Currie, who completed a two-game suspension after drawing a match penalty for slew-footing in a 3-2 overtime loss Nov. 27 to the host Ottawa 67's ... Christian Stevens, who played the first three games this season with the Troops, was recalled from the junior A Haliburton County Huskies. He has four goals and 14 assists for 18 points in 16 games with the Ontario Junior Hockey League club ... Among the Niagara scratches was goaltender Tucker Tynan ... Niagara's Danil Gushchin saw the end of a seven-game points streak in which he had six goals and four assists for 10 points.

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