Oshawa blanks Battalion
Goaltender Jaden Cholette made 21 saves for his second consecutive shutout, backstopping the Oshawa Generals to a 4-0 victory over the North Bay Battalion in an Ontario Hockey League game Friday night.
Owen Griffin scored one goal and added two assists, and Aiden O’Donnell had one goal and one assist. Lucas Teixeira and Luke Posthumus also scored for Oshawa.
Cholette provided 27 saves for his first OHL shutout in a 1-0 decision Sunday over the visiting Erie Otters as the Generals snapped an eight-game losing streak. Oshawa has a won-lost-extended record of 7-16-0 for 14 points, fifth in the East Division.
Goaltender Mike McIvor faced 34 shots for the Battalion before 5,735 at the Tribute Communities Centre. North Bay, which defeated the visiting London Knights 5-2 Thursday night, is 12-10-1 for 25 points, second in the Central Division.
With left winger Ihnat Pazii traded to the Flint Firebirds before the game, the Battalion dressed 17 skaters, one below the limit. The Troops received centre Kaden Pitre in the deal.
Oshawa took a 2-0 first-period lead, with Teixeira striking first at 8:38 when he seized a puck that emerged from the right-wing corner and fired it from the circle. Anthony Figliomeni and Vadim Smirnov assisted on the first OHL goal for Teixeira, who played six games last season with the Guelph Storm.
Griffin collected his team-leading 12th goal of the season at 14:25, knocking home a puck bouncing in the goalmouth with McIvor lying prone. Figliomeni and O’Donnell drew assists.
Cholette denied Lirim Amidovski on a setup at the right lip of the crease in the third minute of the penalty-free frame.
Posthumus made it 3-0 during a two-man advantage at 16:16 of the middle period after Jonathan Kapageridis went off for hooking at 15:39 and Ethan Procyszyn received a double minor for high-sticking 13 seconds later. Posthumus, assisted by Griffin and Lucas Moore, one-timed his sixth goal from deep on the left wing.
O’Donnell, at the right lip of the crease, redirected a Moore shot at 19:58, with Griffin being credited with the other assist. It was O’Donnell’s fifth goal.
The Troops held a 7-5 edge in third-period shots but failed to mount a serious threat to Oshawa’s lead in yet another penalty-free session.
The Battalion opens a three-game road trip against the Peterborough Petes at 7:05 p.m. Thursday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: It was the second of four meetings between the teams, after the host Battalion downed the Generals 4-2 on Sept. 18, the first night of the schedule. The next encounter is set for Jan. 16 at Oshawa … Teixeira and Nolan Laird fought at 4:18 of the second period, with Teixeira receiving an instigating minor, major and misconduct. Laird served a fighting major … Nick Wellenreiter topped the Troops with five shots on goal. Posthumus led the Generals with seven … The Battalion went 0-for-2 on the power play. Oshawa was 1-for-3 … The trade of Pazii, a native of Kharkiv, Ukraine, leaves North Bay with two imports against the quota of three. They are Evgeny Dubrovtsev of Russia and Arseny Pronin of Belarus, selected in the first and second round respectively of the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft on July 2 … Opening lines saw Procyszyn centring left winger Wellenreiter and right winger Amidovski, Dubrovtsev centring left winger Jax Pereira and right winger Ryder Carey and Cam Warren pivoting left winger Laird and right winger Parker Vaughan. Left winger Lincoln Edwards was the 10th forward … Defence pairings featured Bronson Ride with Brandt Harper, Aaron Enright with Kent Greer and Kapageridis with Adrian Manzo. Carter Kunopaski also manned the blue line … The Battalion was without Declan Gallivan, Ryder Cali, Pronin and Shamar Moses … Among the missing for Oshawa were Brooks Rogowski and Beckett Sennecke, who’s with the National Hockey League’s Anaheim Ducks.
