Battalion beats ‘Dogs 7-3
Nick Wellenreiter scored an empty-net goal and added two assists as the North Bay Battalion skated to a 7-3 conquest of the Niagara IceDogs in an Ontario Hockey League game Sunday.
Ethan Procyszyn, Parker Vaughan and Ryder Carey each contributed one goal and one assist, and Kaden Pitre, Lirim Amidovski and Nolan Laird provided a goal apiece.
Goaltender Jack Lisson made 31 saves as the Battalion, which lost 3-1 Saturday night to the Erie Otters, completed a two-game road trip before 2,792 at the Meridian Centre.
North Bay, which wore its black Centurion uniforms for a second straight game, improved its won-lost-extended record to 17-13-2 for 36 points, second in the Central Division.
Riley Patterson had one goal and one assist for the IceDogs, who also got goals from Ethan Czata and Sean Doherty. Starting goaltender Charlie Robertson gave up three goals on eight shots before being relieved by Vladislav Yermolenko, who surrendered three goals on 23 shots in taking the loss.
Niagara, which lost 2-1 Saturday night to the host Barrie Colts, is 13-13-3 for 29 points, third in the division.
The IceDogs, who trailed 3-1 after 20 minutes, pulled within a goal at 8:22 of the middle period when Patterson converted a rebound in the goalmouth. Hayden Reid and Grayson Tiller had the assists on Patterson’s 15th goal.
Laird restored the Troops’ two-goal lead at 15:44, drilling the disc quickly past Yermolenko from the right circle off a backhanded feed from the corner from Wellenreiter. The eventual winner was Laird’s sixth goal.
Doherty poked the puck home at 3:12 of the third period for his second goal after Ryan Roobroeck fed it out from the end boards following a cross-crease burst by Patterson, but Vaughan replied on the power play at 5:21, beating Yermolenko between the legs from the mid blue line. Carey and Brandt Harper assisted on Vaughan’s eighth goal.
Carey cut through the defence like butter to break in alone for his seventh goal at 8:50. Arseny Pronin and Alexander Karmanov, earning his first OHL point, drew assists.
With Yermolenko on the bench for a sixth attacker, Wellenreiter put his eighth goal into the empty net at 16:53. Harper had the sole assist.
Procyszyn opened the scoring with his eighth goal at 1:19 of the first period off an odd-man rush with Wellenreiter and Vaughan, who sent the captain alone up the middle to tuck the puck past Robertson’s left pad.
Penalty killer Pitre struck at 3:56, just 11 seconds after Laird went off for his first of three consecutive high-sticking calls. Procyszyn and Pitre got wide of Patterson and raced away, with Pitre snapping home his ninth goal and fourth in nine games with the Troops since a trade from the Flint Firebirds. Bronson Ride also assisted on the goal by Pitre, who later left with an upper-body injury.
Czata countered with his 13th goal during the same penalty, shoveling the puck into the net from the left side of the crease on assists by Ryerson Edgar and Roobroeck at 5:40.
Amidovski chased Robertson from the crease at 16:21 after Jonathan Kapageridis kept the puck in the zone at the left boards and fired it toward the net. Amidovski redirected the rubber for his team-leading 10th goal.
The Battalion plays host to the Guelph Storm at 7 p.m. Thursday in its last game before the Christmas hiatus. It’s The Brick North Bay Teddy Bear Toss Night.
BATTALION BULLETS: It was the third of six season meetings, with the Battalion holding a record of 2-0-1. The teams next meet Feb. 1 at St. Catharines … Procyszyn topped the Troops with five shots on goal. Six players had four shots apiece for Niagara … Athletic therapist Andrew Sachkiw worked his 900th OHL game between Barrie and the Battalion … North Bay went 1-for-2 on the power play. Niagara was 1-for-4 … Opening lines saw Procyszyn centring left winger Wellenreiter and right winger Vaughan, Pitre pivoting left winger Laird and right winger Amidovski and Evgeny Dubrovtsev centring left winger Shamar Moses and right winger Carey. Left winger Pronin and right winger Quinn Kipfer had various linemates … Defence pairings were Ride with Harper, Kapageridis with Kent Greer and Carter Kunopaski with Adrian Manzo. Karmanov, a Moldovan import who didn’t venture to Erie because of potential visa issues, was a seventh defenceman … The Battalion was without Aaron Enright, Declan Gallivan, Cam Warren, Ryder Cali and Jax Pereira … Lincoln Edwards was returned to the junior A King Rebellion and Kipfer recalled for the game from the junior B Stratford Warriors … Among the missing for Niagara were Darcy Dewachter and Liam Spencer … Tiller returned from a five-game suspension issued after he received a match penalty for kicking in a 6-3 loss Nov. 28 to the host Kitchener Rangers … Alex Joubert and Matt Mannella were the referees.
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