OHL North Bay Battalion

Troops Defeat 'Dogs, Earn Split on Road

Published on February 27, 2016 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


HAMILTON - Max Kislinger scored two goals to pace the North Bay Battalion to a 6-1 Ontario Hockey League victory Saturday night over the Hamilton Bulldogs, giving the Troops a split on a two-game road trip.

Brady Lyle and Brett Hargrave each had one goal and one assist and Justin Brazeau and Kyle Wood also scored, while Brett McKenzie recorded three assists. Goaltender Jake Smith made 26 saves in a stellar performance before 3,545 at the FirstOntario Centre.

North Bay improved its won-lost-extended record to 31-19-9 for 71 points, second in the Central Division and third in the Eastern Conference.

Matthew Strome scored for Hamilton, 22-31-7 for 51 points, fifth in the East Division and ninth in the conference. The Oshawa Generals blanked the visiting Kitchener Rangers 5-0 on Saturday to pull a point ahead of the Bulldogs in the battle for the eighth and last conference playoff berth.

Starting goaltender Kaden Fulcher gave up two goals on as many shots in just more than five minutes before being relieved by Connor Hicks, who allowed one goal on eight shots through the rest of the first period. Fulcher returned for the second, facing 20 shots over the final 40 minutes.

The Bulldogs hadn't played since a 4-3 overtime win at North Bay on Wednesday night, while the Battalion lost 4-0 to the Erie Otters in the trip opener Friday night.

The Troops chased Fulcher with a pair of goals 36 seconds apart in the first period, starting at 4:52. A Brazeau drive off the left wing appeared to hit the crossbar but, at the next stoppage, referee Brett Montsion conferred with the video goal judge. Replays showed the puck striking the bar at the back of the net.

With the Bulldogs unable to clear their zone, McKenzie jumped on a loose puck and fed it to Kislinger, who snapped it over Fulcher's glove from deep in the left-wing circle at 5:28. Zach Shankar had the second assist on what, given Smith's heroics, proved to be the winning goal.

Strome scored into an open net at 17:55 after Smith was cleared from his crease by Benjamin Gleason, but Wood restored the two-goal lead 59 seconds later, going to the net and chipping a McKenzie feed behind Hicks. Smith earned the second assist on defenceman Wood's eighth goal of the season.

Smith was busy early in the period, in which he faced six shots, turning aside good chances for Mitchell Mendonca, Niki Petti and MacKenzie Entwistle.

Hamilton dominated the scoreless second period, outshooting the Troops 13-6. Smith denied a left-wing rush by Petti in the sixth minute, foiled Mendonca in the 12th with Adam Laishram looking for the rebound and challenged Gleason alone in the slot in the 17th.

Kislinger made it 4-1 at 3:07 of the third period, banging his own rebound between Fulcher's pads with assists going to Steve Harland and Cam Dineen.

Defenceman Lyle, North Bay's first-round pick in the 2015 OHL Priority Selection, scored his first OHL goal on the power play at 7:05 when he lofted a wrister from the blue line that eluded Fulcher, who was screened by Hargrave. McKenzie earned the lone assist.

Hargrave completed the scoring with a man-advantage goal at 17:15, slipping his own rebound around Fulcher. Lyle drew the only assist on Hargrave's ninth goal.

The Battalion plays host to the Owen Sound Attack at 7 p.m. Thursday.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 27, 2016


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