Oshawa defeats Battalion
Luke Posthumus scored the winning goal at 8:20 of the third period and added an assist as the Oshawa Generals rallied for a 4-3 Ontario Hockey League victory Thursday night over the North Bay Battalion, leaving the Troops farther behind the Peterborough Petes in the Eastern Conference race.
Ben Cormier had one goal and one assist and Harrison Franssen and Brooks Rogowski also scored for Oshawa, which has a won-lost-extended record of 17-40-3 for 37 points, fifth in the East Division and last in the conference. Goaltender Jaden Cholette stopped 33 shots.
Ethan Procyszyn scored two goals, Lirim Amidovski added one goal and one assist and Ryder Cali and Sebastien Gervais each earned two assists for North Bay, 34-24-3 for 71 points, second in the Central Division and fifth in the conference, three points behind fourth-place Peterborough, which defeated the visiting Ottawa 67’s 1-0 in overtime.
Goaltender Cole Vreugdenhil faced 28 shots before 2,115 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens as the Battalion saw a winning streak ended at four games.
“That team’s way better than what their record shows,” said Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen. “Their play in the last three weeks especially has been impressive. They keep games tight and they hang in there. They found a way to get a couple of breaks here. I thought there were a couple of bad bounces that maybe ended up in the back of our net.
“It’s disappointing that we weren’t able to take care of business, but it is what it is. We’ve got to get reset here tomorrow, and a massive weekend coming up.”
North Bay took a 3-2 lead into the third period, but Oshawa struck for two goals in a span of 1:36, starting when Rogowski scored shorthanded at 6:44, poking home a loose puck in the crease for his 11th goal of the season. Posthumus’s 20th goal came when he gathered a Cormier rebound and shoveled it into the net from the right lip.
The Battalion, which matched the visitors with 12 shots in the period, failed to capitalize when Franssen went off for delay of game at 10:15. Cholette made a good stop on Evgeny Dubrovtsev in the 17th minute and turned away a Kaden Pitre drive off the right wing in the final minute with Vreugdenhil gone for a sixth skater.
A turnover deep in Battalion territory led to the first goal, when Cormier collected his third tally by redirecting an Anthony Figliomeni drive at 1:33 of the opening period.
Amidovski replied with his 22nd goal at 3:24. Gervais put the puck to the net off the left wing, with Cholette steering the rebound to Cali. He took another shot that the goaltender stopped before Amidovski converted.
Procyszyn made it 2-1 at 11:50, breaking in on Cholette and beating him low to the stick side. Gervais and Amidovski claimed assists.
Oshawa struck at 19:14 on the lone power play of the period. Owen Griffin moved into the high slot and fed the puck to Franssen alone at the left post for his 22nd goal.
Vreugdenhil, who made a solid save on Lucas Moore with Rogowski lurking for a rebound in the eighth minute, foiled Griffin after he seized a turnover in the slot in the 12th. Cholette turned away good chances by Cali off a right-wing rush early in the frame and produced a blocker stop on Nick Wellenreiter in the ninth minute.
North Bay regained the lead with the man advantage at 6:50 of the middle period when Procyszyn tipped a Cali drive from the high slot past Cholette for a team-leading 30th goal. Wellenreiter earned the second assist. Procyszyn, on a five-game scoring streak in which he has seven goals, also has two assists in the span for nine points.
The Troops enjoyed a 13-5 edge in shots in the period, testing Cholette early when Wellenreiter and Pitre had chances. The goaltender sprawled to foil Amidovski on a three-on-one rush in the 12th minute, and Rogowski, who hit the post in the eighth minute, just missed converting a Franssen rebound in the 11th.
The Battalion visits the Barrie Colts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: It was Casino Royale Night presented by Cascades Casino … Each team went 2-2-0 in the season series. The Battalion won 4-2 at home Sept. 18 before two games at Oshawa, a 4-0 loss Nov. 21 and a 5-2 win Jan. 16 … In 251 games, Procyszyn has 84 goals and 88 assists for 172 points, two more than Kyle Jackson and alone in 19th place in franchise history … Parker Vaughan, who celebrates his 18th birthday Friday, topped the Troops with six shots on goal. Rogowski led the Generals with six … The Battalion went 1-for-5 on the power play. Oshawa was 1-for-3 … Opening lines included Procyszyn centring left winger Pitre and right winger Wellenreiter, Cali skating between left winger Gervais and right winger Amidovski and Cam Warren centring left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Vaughan. Dubrovtsev centred left winger Arseny Pronin and right winger Ryder Carey … Defence pairs saw Bronson Ride with Hayden Barch, Aaron Enright with Kent Greer and Jonathan Kapageridis with Adrian Manzo … The Battalion was without Mike McIvor, Brandt Harper, Alexander Karmanov, Carter Kunopaski and Shamar Moses … Jack Lisson backed up Vreugdenhil … Among the missing for Oshawa was Aiden O’Donnell … Griffin, who has team-leading totals of 23 goals, 35 assists and 58 points in as many games, was the sixth overall pick in the 2023 OHL Priority Selection … Andre Grougrou and Lacey Senuk were the referees.
