OHL North Bay Battalion

Niagara Roars Back, Prevails 6-5

Published on February 22, 2015 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Carter Verhaeghe scored his second goal of the game at 19:07 of the third period to cap a five-goal final-frame rally as the Niagara IceDogs defeated the North Bay Battalion 6-5 in a wild Ontario Hockey League game Sunday.

Mikkel Aagaard, Billy Jenkins, Ryan Mantha and Vince Dunn also scored for Niagara, which trailed 4-1 after 40 minutes. Brendan Perlini had three assists and Verhaeghe added one, while goaltender Brent Moran made 28 saves. The IceDogs have a won-lost-extended record of 28-25-4 for 60 points, third in the Central Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference.

Ryan Kujawinski had two goals and two assists for the Battalion, which got one goal and one assist from Marcus McIvor and its other goals from Ray Huether and Nick Paul. Miles Liberati recorded four assists and goaltender Jake Smith faced 48 shots before a crowd of 3,245.

North Bay is 28-17-11 for 67 points, second in the division and fourth in the conference. The Troops, who have lost four games since a 5-2 win over the visiting Sudbury Wolves last Sunday, clinched a postseason tiebreaker game because of the Guelph Storm's 7-4 victory over the host Mississauga Steelheads.

"We have to keep our composure," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "When they made it 4-2, you would think we were down 5-0. We can't play that way. We're a fragile group and we don't have a lot of confidence. When you don't have a lot of confidence, everything that doesn't go your way you struggle with, and that's where we are right now."

Niagara scored three power-play goals in a span of 3:41 of the third period to tie it 4-4, sparked by Jenkins's goal at 6:57. Mantha struck at 10:12 from the left point, and fellow defenceman Dunn connected at 10:38. Smith stopped Perlini's initial shot, but Dunn shoveled home the rebound at the left post.

Verhaeghe gave Niagara its first lead at 15:18, steering a Perlini feed into the net with Smith down, before Kujawinski knotted the score again at 17:20 as he raced down the left wing and beat Moran with a drive to the glove side. Liberati and McIvor earned assists.

On the winning goal, Smith denied Perlini from the slot, but the rebound went to Verhaeghe, who had an open net from the right lip of the crease. It was Verhaeghe's team-leading 28th goal of the seaosn.

The Battalion took a 2-0 first-period lead with a pair of power-play goals. Cody Payne was off for hooking with a crosschecking penalty looming to Mantha when defenceman McIvor scored at 6:39, taking a feed from Liberati and beating Moran low to the stick side from the right circle. Kujawinski had the second assist.

Huether scored at 16:33 as he collected the puck at the left post, brought it deftly to his forehand in front and swept the disc behind Moran. The goal was assisted by Kujawinski and Liberati.

Paul added to the lead at 4:45 of the second period with his team-leading 31st goal. He darted down the right wing, stopped in the faceoff circle as Graham Knott overskated the play and wristed the rubber over Moran's glove. Riley Bruce drew the only assist.

Aagaard replied at 7:19. Smith stopped Blake Siebenaler's shot from the blue line, but Aagaard backhanded home the rebound.

Josh Ho-Sang was awarded a penalty shot after being hooked by McIvor on a breakaway at 8:11. Ho-Sang moved in slowly on Smith, but the goaltender calmly poked the puck away from the shooter.

Kujawinski restored the Troops' three-goal lead on the power play at 15:56. The IceDogs were in the final minute of killing a five-minute penalty for checking from behind issued to Anthony DiFruscia when Kujawinski took a Liberati pass and scored from high in the left circle. Alex Henriksson had the other assist.

The Battalion opens a three-game road trip by visiting the Barrie Colts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on TVCogeco Cable 12 and heard on Country 600 CKAT.

BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion's magic number to secure a conference quarterfinal berth was reduced to one with Mississauga's loss. Any point earned by North Bay or lost by Mississauga clinches a playoff series for the Troops ... Paul has 69 career goals, 10th on the franchise list, one ahead of Howie Martin. Paul extended a points streak to seven games, during which he has seven goals and two assists for nine points ... Liberati's four assists were the most by a Battalion player this season ... McIvor and Kujawinski each set a career high for goals in a season. Overager McIvor has five, surpassing the four he scored in 2012-13, the Troops' last season in Brampton. Kujawinski has 25 goals, two more than last season with the Kingston Frontenacs. He has 12 goals in 22 games with North Bay since a Jan. 5 trade ... Huether scored his ninth goal, matching his career high set last season with Sudbury ... Niagara's 48 shots were the most the Battalion has allowed this season. North Bay allowed 44 in a 2-1 loss via shootout Jan. 1 to the host Oshawa Generals. The Troops gave up a season-high 22 shots in the third period ... Each team was 3-for-4 on the power play ... The Battalion scratched Zach Shankar, Owen Green and Zach Bratina ... Marty Williamson, Niagara's head coach and general manager, was absent while scouting the Canada Winter Games at Prince George, B.C.

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