OHL North Bay Battalion

Troops Blitz Fronts in Series Opener

Published on March 27, 2015 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion picked up Friday night where it left off Sunday.

The Battalion routed the Kingston Frontenacs 8-0 in the opener of the teams' first-round playoff series five days after wrapping up the Ontario Hockey League regular season with a 6-0 decision over the visiting Frontenacs.

Nick Paul scored two goals and added one assist, Ryan Kujawinski had two goals, Mike Amadio recorded one goal and two assists and Zach Bratina had one goal and one assist. Riley Bruce and Brenden Miller also scored, while Marcus McIvor registered three assists.

Goaltender Jake Smith made 18 saves for his fourth OHL playoff shutout, extending his franchise record before a Memorial Gardens crowd of 3,437. Smith earned his 14th playoff win, surpassing Thomas McCollum for the most in franchise history.

The third-place Battalion hosts Game 2 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Starting goaltender Lucas Peressini allowed six goals on 31 shots before being relieved by Jeremy Helvig, who surrendered two goals on 11 shots for sixth-place Kingston.

Battalion coach Stan Butler said the win was more important than the margin of victory.

"All that matters is we won the game. It doesn't matter if you win 1-0 or by more than one goal. We got the first game. Kingston has a lot of good players. The bounces went our way tonight, and there may be other nights where they don't go our way. We're one game closer to our goal, which is to win this series, and we'll go from there."

Amadio scored the only goal of the first period at 17:04, sweeping the rebound of a McIvor shot past an out-of-position Peressini. Miles Liberati picked up the second assist.

Smith foiled Sam Bennett jamming at the puck in the fourth minute and stopped Juho Lammikko off the right wing in the eighth. Smith kept Bennett from poking home a Lawson Crouse feed in the 19th minute.

Paul scored at 4:47 of the second period to ignite a five-goal flurry in the frame. Moutrey barreled down the right wing, fended off Jacob Graves and shoveled the puck in front, where a charging Paul, shrugging off the challenge of Roland McKeown, chipped it over Peressini.

Moutrey set up the third goal, a shorthanded strike at 11:43. Peressini and Evan McEneny tried to corral the puck behind their net when Moutrey raced in, seized the disc and sent it to Kujawinski. who hammered it into a gaping net.

Defenceman Bruce scored his first OHL goal of any kind at 13:27 when his lob from the right point beat a screened Peressini low to the stick side. Hampus Olsson and Zach Poirier earned their first OHL playoff points with the assists.

Paul struck on the power play at 15:32, burying an Amadio pass, and Bratina converted the rebound of a McIvor shot from a sharp angle to Peressini's right at 16:43. That ended Peressini's night.

Kujawinski connected on the power play at 6:32 of the third period, squeezing a McIvor feed between Helvig's pads from deep in the left-wing circle, and defenceman Miller finished the scoring at 8:52 when his fluttering shot from the left point eluded the goaltender.

Smith faced seven shots in the third period, with his toughest saves coming in the first minute when he made a glove save on Spencer Watson and got the right pad on Bennett's attempt at the rebound.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 27, 2015


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