OHL North Bay Battalion

Troops Blank Fronts in Playoff Preview

March 22, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion proved turnabout is fair play.

The Battalion injected a measure of meaning into a schedule-ending game otherwise largely devoid of it, defeating the Kingston Frontenacs 6-0 Sunday to avenge an Ontario Hockey League loss by that score in the teams ' previous meeting March 14 at Kingston.

Goaltender Jake Kment, making his first start on home ice, registered 21 saves for his first career OHL shutout and remained unbeaten in eight appearances. Brenden Miller and Ryan Kujawinski each scored two goals, while Austin Kosack had one goal and two assists and Brett McKenzie one goal and one assist. Mike Amadio and Zach Bratina earned three assists apiece.

"It feels amazing," said Kment. "I worked hard out there, and the boys worked hard for me. It feels great to get this win in front of the home crowd."

Attendance of 3,676 brought the season total to a franchise-record 117,195, breaking the mark of 114,437 set last season, the Battalion's first in North Bay after 15 years in Brampton.

The Battalion finished with a won-lost-extended record of 37-20-11 for 85 points, second in the Central Division and third in the conference. The Troops, who tied the Barrie Colts in points but ceded the division title because Barrie had four more wins, ended the schedule on a season-high four-game winning streak.

Goaltender Jeremy Helvig faced 21 shots for Kingston, 32-28-8 for 72 points, third in the East Division and sixth in the conference.

With North Bay and Kingston set to resume hostilities at Memorial Gardens at 7 p.m. Friday in the opener of a best-of-seven conference quarterfinal, the teams demonstrated a mutual dislike even as both rested several players. Nick Paul, Kyle Wood and Miles Liberati were healthy scratches for the Battalion, while Kingston sat out Sam Bennett, Spencer Watson, Robert Polesello and Roland McKeown.

Miller opened the scoring at 9:11 of the first period, three seconds after a high-sticking penalty to Kingston ' s Sam Field expired. Amadio and Bratina earned the assists.

Bratina set up the second goal, on the power play at 13:00, as he wheeled behind the net and slid the puck to defenceman Kosack, who slipped into the high slot and fired the puck past Helvig's blocker. Kosack's second goal of the season also was assisted by Amadio.

Miller struck again at 18:08 on a nifty rush, taking a back pass from McKenzie at the blue line and beating a screened Helvig high to the glove side. Mathew Santos, fresh out of the penalty box, had the other assist on Miller's 19th goal, the second-highest single-season total by a Battalion defenceman behind Bobby Sanguinetti ' s 29 in 2007-08.

Kingston's best chances came in the 18th minute, when Juho Lammikko fired wide of the net while alone in the slot, and in the 19th, when Kment denied Corey Pawley as he looked to convert a pass from Cody Caron.

Kujawinski scored at 8:29 of the second period, driving to the net with defender Evan McEneny draped on his back and tipping a Kosack feed between Helvig's pads.

McKenzie connected at 18:35, converting an Amadio pass from the lip of the crease. Bratina also assisted on McKenzie's 11th goal.

Kujawinski scored on the power play at 15:38 of the third period as he took a feed from Alex Henriksson, blew past McEneny and slipped the puck around Helvig' s outstretched left pad. Kosack earned the second assist on Kujawinski' s 34th goal of the season and his 21st with North Bay since a Jan. 5 trade from Kingston.

The Frontenacs, who held a 7-2 edge in shots in the period, enjoyed their best scoring chances when Ryan Verbeek fired shots off the crossbar and right post.

BATTALION BULLETS: Kment, 6-0-0 since joining the Battalion on Jan. 5, made a second consecutive start for the first time. He backstopped a 6-3 victory Friday night over the Mississauga Steelheads ... Overager Miller finished with 37 goals and 92 assists for 129 points, first all-time among Battalion defencemen and tied with Matt Duchene for 23rd place on the franchise list. Miller played 248 games over five seasons ... The Battalion completed the regular season against its first-round playoff opponent for the first time since 2010, when Brampton ousted the Frontenacs in a seven-game series ... North Bay, 3-1-0 against Kingston, went 11-6-3 against the East Division and 30-11-5 within the conference. The Troops were 20-9-5 at home, while the Frontenacs finished 13-15-6 on the road ... The Battalion completed its March schedule at 7-2-0 ... North Bay went 2-for-9 on the power play. Kingston was 0-for-3 ... Opening lines included Kujawinski centring Nick Moutrey on left wing and right winger Henriksson, McKenzie centring left winger Bratina and Amadio on right wing and Ray Huether pivoting left winger Owen Green and right winger Santos. Zach Poirier centred left winger Mike Baird and right winger Hampus Olsson ... Kosack turned 20 Sunday, while Green is 18 on Monday and Baird 18 on Wednesday ... The referees were Chris Carnegie and Matthew Traub.

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