Hrebik backs Barrie win
Goaltender Ben Hrebik provided 45 saves in backstopping the Barrie Colts to a 3-1 victory Sunday over the North Bay Battalion in one of nine games as the Ontario Hockey League schedule resumed after the Christmas break.
Jonah McCormick, Eamon Edgar and Brad Gardiner, into an empty net, scored a goal apiece for Barrie, which moved its won-lost-extended record to 20-10-5 for 45 points atop the Central Division.
Evgeny Dubrovtsev scored for the Battalion, while goaltender Mike McIvor allowed two goals on 15 shots before 3,069 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
North Bay, which hit the halfway mark of its 68-game schedule, is 18-14-2 for 38 points, second in the division.
The Troops saw the return of Ryder Cali and Cam Warren from shoulder and hip injuries respectively. Cali was sidelined in a 2-1 road loss Oct. 25 to the Brampton Steelheads, missing 20 games. Warren, out since a 7-2 setback Dec. 6 to the host Brantford Bulldogs, was unavailable for five games.
“We just weren’t able to find those loose pucks around the net,” said Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen. “Give Barrie credit. Just the defensive way they play, they really do a good job boxing out, and we’ve got to find a way to get that next rebound, that next shot.”
McCormick struck first at 2:47 of the middle period, snapping the puck from the top of the left circle through a partial screen. Alex Assadourian and Evan Passmore assisted on rookie McCormick’s third goal of the season.
Edgar netted what proved to be the winner on the power play at 12:21 after a holding call on Lirim Amidovski that angered the crowd. Edgar found himself alone at the left lip of the crease to backhand home his third goal on assists by Jaiden Newton and Teague Vader.
Hrebik, who made a big stop against Arseny Pronin driving off the right side at 2:13, produced a stellar save against Warren at the back door on the left side during a power play in the seventh minute, then foiled Cali jamming at the puck at the right post as the penalty expired.
Before Edgar connected, Hrebik stopped penalty killer Nick Wellenreiter on a solo break off a turnover, then stymied a backhanded attempt with the rebound.
Four seconds after a Battalion power play that exerted heavy pressure ended, Dubrovtsev pumped a rebound past Hrebik at 10:46 of the third period to cut the Troops’ deficit to one. Amidovski and Parker Vaughan assisted on Dubrovtsev’s sixth goal.
McIvor left for a sixth attacker at 18:50, but overager Gardiner put the puck into the vacant cage at 19:37 for his 16th goal.
North Bay outshot the visitors 16-7 in the first period, with the Colts whistled for two penalties and the Battalion for one.
The Battalion plays host to the Kitchener Rangers at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the traditional New Year’s Eve game presented by Delta Hotels by Marriott.
BATTALION BULLETS: On Relevant Life Financial Group Day, the goals bursary cheque for last season was presented to Brooke Allerston … It was the third of six meetings. The Battalion swept a home-and-home series Oct. 18-19, taking the first game 4-3 on the road before winning the rematch 3-2 via shootout. The next encounter is Feb. 7 at Barrie to open another home-and-home set … Wellenreiter led North Bay with seven shots on goal. Cole Emerton paced the Colts with three … The Battalion went 0-for-6 on the power play. Barrie was 1-for-4 … The Sudbury Wolves and Guelph Storm were the only idle teams … Opening lines were Ethan Procyszyn centring left winger Cali and right winger Wellenreiter, Warren centring left winger Shamar Moses and right winger Vaughan and Nolan Laird pivoting left winger Jax Pereira and right winger Amidovski. Dubrovtsev centred left winger Pronin and right winger Ryder Carey … Defence pairings had Bronson Ride with Brandt Harper, Jonathan Kapageridis with Kent Greer and Alexander Karmanov with Adrian Manzo … The Battalion was without Aaron Enright, Declan Gallivan, Kaden Pitre and Carter Kunopaski … Among the missing for Barrie were Cole Beaudoin and Kashawn Aitcheson, who are with the Canadian team at the World Junior Championship at Minneapolis, and Emil Hemming, who’s playing for Finland, also in Group B. Hemming helped the Finns to a silver medal a year ago at Ottawa … David Elford and Kyle Whiteman were the referees.
