OHL North Bay Battalion

Stampeding Colts Blank Battalion

November 18, 2013 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - Brendan Lemieux scored two goals to pace the Barrie Colts to a 6-0 thrashing of the North Bay Battalion on Sunday, extending the Colts ' Ontario Hockey League winning streak to seven games.

Tyson Fawcett had one goal and two assists and Jake Dotchin, Erik Bradford and Justin Scott a goal apiece for Barrie, which jumped into first place in the Central Division with a won-lost-extended record of 13-8-1 for 27 points, one ahead of the idle Mississauga Steelheads. Goaltender Daniel Gibl made 32 saves for his first OHL shutout.

The Battalion, which lost for the first time in three games, is 11-12-1 for 23 points, fourth in the division, one point behind the Sudbury Wolves, who downed the visiting Niagara IceDogs 4-3 in overtime. Starting goaltender Brendan O'Neill allowed three goals on 14 shots and was relieved by Jake Smith, who gave up three goals on 18 shots before a crowd of 3,415.

The Colts, who raced out to a 4-0 first-period lead, pinned the Battalion in its own end in the game's first minute, with Lemieux beating a screened O'Neill from the high slot at 1:11.

Lemieux struck again at 10:56, capitalizing after two Troops collided in the Barrie zone. Lemieux finished off the resulting four-on-two rush by taking a pass from Fawcett and whipping a shot that beat O'Neill high to the glove side.

Defenceman Dotchin scored on the power play at 18:21, putting home a heavily screened shot from the blue line that brought Smith off the bench to replace O ' Neill.

Smith was tested in short order, with Bradford converting a Dylan Corson pass to the open left side at 19:07.

The Battalion outshot Barrie 13-6 in a scoreless second period. Gibl produced two saves against Vincent Praplan and got his blocker on a hard shot by Brandon Robinson in the 11th minute. At the other end Andreas Athanasiou had the best chances, hitting the post in the fourth minute and forcing Smith to come up with a solid save on a backhander from the lip of the crease in the seventh.

Fawcett scored 28 seconds into the third period, snapping a Kevin Labanc pass into the top corner from the edge of the right-wing circle, and Scott capped a three-way passing play with Corson and Andrew Mangiapane at 9:49.

The Troops ' best chances in the period came when penalty killer Barclay Goodrow, who also had a shorthanded breakaway in the first frame, stole the puck at the Barrie blue line and moved in alone but failed to slip the disc between Gibl's pads at 5:11 and when Gibl gloved a Matt MacLeod blast at 17:51.

Tempers flared at 15:23, with three scrums breaking out after Robinson checked Bradford into the boards behind the Battalion net.

The Battalion returns to action with a visit to Barrie at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the Troops' only game in the upcoming week. The game can be seen live in North Bay on TVCogeco Cable 12.

BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion went 0-for-3 on the power play. Barrie was 1-for-7 ... Barrie's last loss was a 5-3 road setback Oct. 30 to the Owen Sound Attack. The Colts have outscored opponents 38-10 during the winning streak ... Gibl, a Slovakian first-round pick in the Canadian Hockey League's Import Draft this year, backstopped the Colts to a 3-1 win in the teams' first meeting, at Barrie on Nov. 9 ... The starting Battalion goaltender has been pulled twice this season. Evan Cormier, a callup from the junior A North Bay Trappers, relieved O'Neill during a 4-3 road loss to the Belleville Bulls on Nov. 2 ... Brenden Miller and Scott squared off in a spirited first-period fight. Miller also fought Corson in the third period ... Athanasiou and Alex Henriksson grappled briefly in the first frame ... Blake Clarke played his first game on home ice this season. Clarke appeared in the Troops' first eight games before losing 14 games to a torn rotator cuff. He returned for a 3-1 victory at Sudbury on Friday night ... Opening line combinations included Jamie Lewis centring Nick Paul on left wing and right winger Goodrow, Robinson centring left winger Clarke and right winger MacLeod and Mike Amadio pivoting left winger Praplan and right winger Henriksson. Jared Steege centred Brett McKenzie on left wing and right winger Mathew Santos ... Battalion scratches were Kyle Wood, Connor Jarvis, Steven Duda and Calvin Gomes ... Shawn Tessier of the Trappers played on the Troops' defence ... Barrie scratched Aaron Ekblad, Josh Carrick and Devon Rymarchuk.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 18, 2013


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