Battalion blanks Brampton
Goaltender Mike McIvor made 23 saves for the shutout in his return to action as the North Bay Battalion skated to a 7-0 victory Thursday night over the Brampton Steelheads, keeping pace with the Peterborough Petes in their fight for fourth place in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference.
Ryder Cali scored two goals and Nolan Laird and Cam Warren each had one goal and one assist, while Nick Wellenreiter, Evgeny Dubrovtsev and Adrian Manzo also scored before 2,380 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
North Bay moved its won-lost-extended record to 37-25-4 for 78 points, second in the Central Division and fifth in the conference. Fourth-place Peterborough has 80 points after a 5-4 overtime win over the visiting Barrie Colts, who rested Cole Beaudoin, Emil Hemming, Ben Wilmott and Kashawn Aitcheson.
North Bay needs to outpoint the Petes by three over each team’s last two regular-season games, as Peterborough wins the first tiebreaker, regulation and overtime wins, discounting victories via shootout, with an insurmountable lead of 36-32. Home ice in a first-round playoff series rides on finishing fourth.
McIvor’s previous appearance was in a 4-2 win Jan. 8 over the visiting Ottawa 67’s. McIvor, who recorded his first shutout of the season and his fifth in the OHL, hadn’t played in 27 games since suffering a lower-body injury late in the Ottawa game.
“He looked really confident back there, was seeing everything,” coach Ryan Oulahen, whose Troops are 11-3-1 in their last 15 games, said of McIvor. “Even just different little plays, whether it’s a tip or something like that, when a goalie’s tracking those ones, you know he’s dialed in and locked in, so he looked really good.”
Starting goaltender Luke Johnson gave up five goals on 34 shots through two periods for the Steelheads before being relieved by Peter Chlebowski, who allowed two goals on 16 shots in the final frame. Brampton is 18-39-9 for 45 points, fifth in the division and ninth in the conference.
The Battalion kept the pressure on throughout the game, outshooting the visitors 16-6 in the third period and getting goals from Warren and Manzo. Rookie Warren, for his fifth goal of the season, wheeled through the right circle and beat Chlebowski to the short side from a sharp angle at 10:10, assisted by Jonathan Kapageridis and Kaden Pitre. Defenceman Manzo netted his third goal on the power play at 17:52 on an assist by Laird.
Cali opened the scoring at 4:00 of the first period, breaking into the offensive zone, eluding Mason Roy and going to the slot to beat Johnson with a wrister. Kent Greer had the lone assist.
Wellenreiter was credited with his 22nd goal at 10:26 when his pass from above the right circle intended for Ethan Procyszyn deep on the left wing was deflected directly into the net by the outstretched Matej Stankoven. Pitre and Procyszyn received assists.
Dubrovtsev struck from the left circle in the second half of a double minor for high-sticking to Reed Gee, one-timing a cross-zone pass from Ryder Carey. Greer also assisted on Dubrovtsev’s 12th goal at 8:15 of the middle period.
Cali gathered the puck in traffic in the goalmouth and swept it behind Johnson on the forehand at 12:09. Lirim Amidovski and Sebastien Gervais drew assists on Cali’s 16th goal.
Laird drove to the net off the left wing to convert a cross-zone pass from Warren at 18:34. Parker Vaughan also received an assist on Laird’s ninth goal.
The Battalion visits the Brantford Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Friday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: It was Player Awards Night presented by Subaru of North Bay … The Battalion went 5-1-0 in the season series after a 2-1 road loss Oct. 25. The Troops won 4-3 in overtime at home Dec. 11 and 5-1 at Brampton on Jan. 9. A 3-2 victory via shootout at North Bay on Feb. 12 was followed by a 5-3 win Feb. 16 at the CAA Centre … In 256 games, Procyszyn has 85 goals and 91 assists for 176 points, one more than Howie Martin and 16th in franchise history … Cali has a seven-game points streak in which he has four goals and six assists for 10 points … The Battalion went 2-for-3 on the power play. Brampton didn’t have a man-advantage situation, as North Bay played a penalty-free game … Opening lines featured Procyszyn centring left winger Pitre and right winger Wellenreiter, Cali centring left winger Gervais and right winger Amidovski and Warren pivoting left winger Laird and right winger Vaughan. Centre Dubrovtsev and right winger Carey had various linemates … Defence pairs were Bronson Ride with Hayden Barch, Carter Kunopaski with Greer and Kapageridis with Manzo. Alexander Karmanov was a seventh rearguard … Jack Lisson backed up McIvor … The Battalion scratched Aaron Enright, Brandt Harper, Arseny Pronin and Shamar Moses, who suffered an injury in practice Tuesday … Among the missing for Brampton were David Green and Nathan Amidovski … Pat Myers and Kyle Whiteman were the referees.
