Battalion downs Petes 3-1
Newcomer Kaden Pitre scored an empty-net goal and earned two assists as the North Bay Battalion defeated the Peterborough Petes 3-1 in the only Ontario Hockey League game Thursday night.
Ethan Procyszyn and Nick Wellenreiter had the other goals, while goaltender Mike McIvor shone with 29 saves for the Battalion, which opened a three-game road trip before a sellout crowd of 3,760 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
The Battalion, which dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen, moved its won-lost-extended record to 13-10-1 for 27 points, second in the Central Division.
Braydon McCallum scored the lone goal and goaltender Easton Rye allowed two goals on 39 shots for the Petes, who dressed 17 skaters, one below the limit.
Peterborough, which had won three straight games since a 3-1 setback Nov. 15 to the host Barrie Colts, is 14-9-2 for 30 points, third in the East Division. The Petes, 10-3-1 at home, are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games.
The teams were tied 1-1 at the second intermission before Wellenreiter netted the winner at 11:03 of the third period. Pitre, acquired last Friday from the Flint Firebirds, shot from the right wing off a rush, with a large rebound finding Wellenreiter on the opposite side. He one-timed the puck past Rye for a sixth goal on the season. Cam Warren drew the other assist.
With Rye on the bench for a sixth attacker, Lirim Amidovski fired the puck down the ice, and Pitre got to it first to negate icing, putting the disc into the vacant cage from the left boards at 19:24. It was his sixth goal of the season after five in 12 games for Flint.
McIvor, who dove to deny Aiden Young on the power play after Bronson Ride was banished for tripping at 12:46, sprawled to foil Genc Ula driving to the net at 18:44.
Procyszyn opened the scoring with the man advantage at 10:28 of the middle period after Grayden Strohack went off for interference. Pitre put the puck in front for his first point with the Battalion as Procyszyn drilled his fourth goal high to the blocker side. Warren also assisted.
McCallum tied it with his sixth goal on the power play at 15:48, converting a pass from behind the net by Matthew Soto. The play somehow was upheld after Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen challenged it for offside, with photos clearly showing Soto entered the zone early.
Aaron Enright, emerging from the penalty box after serving coincidental minors with Ula, gloved down a breakaway pass and went in alone on Rye in the 10th minute of the frame but couldn’t tuck the puck home at the left post.
The Battalion forged a 15-8 edge in shots in the first period, in which each team had one power play. McIvor’s best stop was against Carson Cameron off a rebound in the 13th minute.
The Battalion meets the Kingston Frontenacs at 7:05 p.m. Friday in a game that can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: It was the second of four meetings, after Parker Vaughan scored in overtime to give the host Battalion a 5-4 victory Oct. 23. The next engagement is Feb. 19 at Peterborough … The Battalion went 1-for-6 on the power play. Peterborough was 1-for-4 … Opening lines included Pitre centring left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Amidovski, Evgeny Dubrovtsev pivoting left winger Jax Pereira and right winger Ryder Carey and Warren centring left winger Shamar Moses and right winger Vaughan. Centre Procyszyn and right winger Wellenreiter had various linemates… Defence pairings were Ride with Brandt Harper, Enright with Kent Greer and Jonathan Kapageridis with Adrian Manzo. Carter Kunopaski also saw action … Pitre, a first-round pick, 18th overall, by Flint in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection, made his Battalion debut after a trade that saw Ukrainian import Ihnat Pazii head to Michigan … Moses sat out the previous two games with a hip strain suffered in a 6-5 victory via shootout Nov. 16 over the visiting Saginaw Spirit. His recovery has seen Lincoln Edwards returned to the junior A Cobourg Cougars … The Battalion was without Alexander Karmanov, Declan Gallivan, Ryder Cali and Arseny Pronin … Among Peterborough’s missing was Adam Novotny … The Petes sent centre Colin Fitzgerald to the Soo Greyhounds on Thursday for six picks, including North Bay’s second- and fourth-rounders in 2028. Fitzgerald was taken third overall in 2024 from the Peterborough Petes U16s.
