OHL North Bay Battalion

Poirier Strikes Late with Overtime Winner

Published on December 19, 2015 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Zach Poirier scored his second goal of the game, on the power play at 4:56 of overtime, to lift the North Bay Battalion to a 2-1 victory Friday night over the Niagara IceDogs, giving the Troops a fourth straight Ontario Hockey League win, all at home.

There was a decided sense of déjà vu, as the late rally came one night after the Battalion registered a 2-1 overtime decision against the Mississauga Steelheads.

A thrilling overtime period was about to end when a double minor for roughing to Anthony DiFruscia gave the Troops a faceoff in Niagara territory with 10.4 seconds left. Mike Amadio won the draw, and Kyle Wood got the puck to Cam Dineen, whose shot found its way under IceDogs goaltender Stephen Dhillon's left arm and rolled to the goal line, where Poirier pushed it home.

"Cam got the puck and put it on net," said Poirier, who has six goals this season. "I got a little bit of it and got it past the goalie. I saw it rolling and just poked it in."

Goaltender Jake Smith made 19 saves and Wood and Dineen each had two assists for North Bay, which moved its won-lost-extended record to 16-12-3 for 35 points, fourth in the Central Division. A crowd of 3,220 took in the Battalion's last home game before the Christmas break.

Johnny Corneil scored for Niagara, 16-12-4 for 36 points, third in the division. Dhillon faced 40 shots.

"The guys battled hard," said Battalion coach Stan Butler. "There were times in the game where we worked hard but we weren't getting results, and you have to give the guys credit; they stayed with it and found a way. We got a break in overtime and took advantage of it. We found a way to win a game we could have lost."

The Battalion, which trailed 1-0 through 40 minutes, repeatedly challenged Dhillon but couldn't beat the goaltender until 18:20 of the third period when, with Smith just leaving the ice for an extra skater, Poirier raced off the bench and into the play to bury a Dineen feed past an out-of-position Dhillon.

"Stan told me with about 2:35 left that he was pulling Jake," said Poirier. "Dineen gave me a perfect pass. I don't know what the goalie was doing, but I had an open net."

Smith stopped Josh Ho-Sang on a breakaway in the first minute of overtime, poked the puck away from Josh Wesley as he drove to the net and sprawled to block Christopher Paquette's attempt at the rebound. Smith found a Blake Siebenaler shot through traffic in the final minute.

Dhillon fought off Poirier as he charged to the net off the left wing and denied a Poirier drive from the high slot. Dhillon also blocked a Dineen attempt from the slot.

Corneil struck on the power play at 16:49 of the first period. Ho-Sang spun out of the corner to Smith's right and sent the puck into the crease, where Corneil jammed it home.

The Troops directed 13 shots at Dhillon, but he produced solid stops on Wood, Amadio, Mathew Santos and David Sherman. Smith faced seven shots, with his biggest save coming at 11:35 when he thwarted Nick Pastorious on a breakaway.

The scoreless second period saw the Battalion forge a 12-4 edge in shots. Dhillon made four saves against Wood, including two on power-play drives off the left wing late in the frame. Smith stopped good chances from Ho-Sang and Pavel Jenys and was aided by Dineen when he raced back to break up Kyle Langdon's breakaway effort in the fourth minute.

The Battalion visits the Barrie Colts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on TVCogeco Cable 12 and heard on Country 600 CKAT.

BATTALION BULLETS: Amadio saw the end of a nine-game points streak during which he had seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points ... It was the IceDogs' last visit of the season to North Bay. The host Battalion won 4-3 on Oct. 18 and lost 3-1 on Nov. 1 before romping 6-1 at St. Catharines on Nov. 27. The Troops return to Niagara on Feb. 6 and March 12 ... North Bay has won six straight home games, its last loss at Memorial Gardens a 4-3 setback Nov. 19 to the Kingston Frontenacs ... The Troops were 1-for-4 on the power play. Niagara went 1-for-2 ... The Battalion scratched Zach Shankar, Mike Baird and Brett McKenzie. Shankar and McKenzie completed two-game suspensions from a 7-2 win Sunday over the visiting London Knights. Baird served the second of three games ... Niagara was without goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, defenceman Aleksandar Mikulovich and left winger Brendan Perlini, with the American, Russian and Canadian teams respectively for the World Junior Championship starting Dec. 26 at Helsinki ... IceDogs defenceman Vince Dunn, a scratch, was released from the Canadian camp last Friday because of a wrist injury ... Niagara acquired Nedeljkovic and rearguard Wesley in a Dec. 5 trade with the Flint Firebirds for goaltender Brent Moran and five OHL Priority Selection picks, made up of three second-rounders and two thirds.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 19, 2015


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