OHL North Bay Battalion

Troops Wallop Wolves for Measure of Revenge

February 15, 2015 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
North Bay Battalion News Release


NORTH BAY, Ont. - The North Bay Battalion exacted payback Sunday.

The Battalion, which dropped a 3-2 road decision Wednesday night to the Sudbury Wolves, owners of the worst record in the Ontario Hockey League, cruised to a 5-2 victory in the rematch before 3,701 fans at Memorial Gardens.

Mathew Santos, Miles Liberati and Marcus McIvor had one goal and one assist each and Ryan Kujawinski and Alex Henriksson also scored for the Battalion, which got two assists from Ray Huether and 16 saves from goaltender Jake Smith.

The Battalion is second in the Central Division with a won-lost-extended record of 28-13-11 for 67 points, trailing the Barrie Colts by five points with two games in hand.

"We weren't prepared at all Wednesday night and, when they beat us, it gave us some extra drive coming out today," said Battalion captain McIvor. "We owed them one."

Jeff Corbett and Pavel Jenys scored for Sudbury, which has just the one win over the Troops in seven games this season. Goaltender Samuel Tanguay faced 45 shots as the Wolves went to 9-42-2 for 20 points, last in the division and league.

"I'm happy with the win," said coach Stan Butler, whose Troops downed the visiting London Knights 5-2 Thursday night. "We had chances early in the game to put them away and we didn't do that. That's what happened to us in Sudbury; we were up 1-0 at the end of the second period and we kept the game too close."

Defenceman Liberati broke a 2-2 tie at 9:33 of the second period, finishing off a two-on-one rush with Hampus Olsson by whipping a shot over Tanguay's glove from the left-wing circle.

Henriksson made it 4-2 at 4:58 of the third period, stepping around Kyle Capobianco and firing the puck between Tanguay's pads from the left circle. Nick Paul and Brenden Miller, who did good work to keep the puck in at the blue line, received assists on Henriksson's 15th goal of the season.

The Troops took advantage of a Brady Pataki match penalty for slew-footing when defenceman McIvor faked a shot from the right circle, moved around Michael Pezzetta and snapped the puck home at 10:59.

Referee Jeff Campbell awarded a penalty shot to Jenys at 7:05 after he was hooked by McIvor on a breakaway. Smith had no trouble with Jenys's subsequent wrister from the deep slot.

Kujawinski opened the scoring at 4:02 of the first period, beating Tanguay high to the glove side from the high slot. Brett McKenzie and McIvor collected assists on Kujawinski's 23rd goal of the season, his 10th with North Bay.

Corbett responded shorthanded at 10:48 on a bizarre play. Corbett intercepted a Liberati pass out of Battalion territory and darted toward the net. Liberati pivoted to cut off the play and was leveled in a collision with referee Campbell. Defenceman Corbett scored off what became a two-man breakaway.

Santos's eighth goal put the Troops back in front at 16:31. The Wolves played the puck back into their own zone, putting Ray Huether onside, and he fed Santos for a snap shot over Tanguay's glove.

Jenys tied it on the power play at 5:55 of the middle frame. A Jacob Harris drive missed the net, but Jenys collected the puck off the endboards and put it under the crossbar from the left lip of the crease.

The Battalion visits the Peterborough Petes at 2:05 p.m. Monday. The Family Day matinee can be seen live in North Bay on TVCogeco Cable 12 and heard on Country 600 CKAT.

BATTALION BULLETS: The 50th anniversary of the first raising of Canada's Maple Leaf flag was marked. In a Canadian Forces colour party carrying the Canadian and United States flags and the Canadian Forces Ensign respectively were Sgt. Andrew Roberts, M.Sgt. Tony Luquer and M.Cpl. Shane Toms ... A moment of silence was observed for Steve Montador, a onetime member of the North Bay Centennials who played with three OHL and six National Hockey League clubs ... The Battalion went 1-for-5 on the power play. Sudbury was 1-for-3 ... Paul has 124 career points, tying him with Michael Vernace for 23rd place on the franchise list. Paul has 65 goals and 59 assists in 177 games ... Miller earned his 119th point, moving him into a tie for second place with Dylan Blujus for career scoring among franchise blueliners. Miller has 33 goals and 86 assists in 235 games. Vernace holds the top spot ... Liberati's ninth goal matched his career high set last season, when he had one goal with London and eight with North Bay ... Opening line combinations included Mike Amadio centring left winger Paul and right winger Henriksson, McKenzie pivoting Kujawinski on left wing and right winger Nick Moutrey and Huether centring Olsson on left wing and right winger Santos. Poirier centred left winger Mike Baird and Owen Green on right wing ... The Battalion scratched Austin Kosack, Zach Shankar and Zach Bratina ... Darryl Wolfe was the other referee.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 15, 2015


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