Owen Sound sweeps series
Nicholas Sykora scored two goals to pace the Owen Sound Attack to a 6-4 Ontario Hockey League victory Monday over the North Bay Battalion in the Troops’ traditional Thanksgiving Day matinee.
Jake Crawford had an empty-net goal and two assists, and Tristan Delisle contributed one goal and one assist. Noah Nelson and Masen Wray also scored for Owen Sound, while goaltender Carter George produced 41 saves.
The Attack, which completed a sweep of a home-and-home set and has won its last three games, boasts a won-lost-extended record of 7-2-0 atop the Midwest Division. The teams finished their season series.
Kent Greer had one goal and one assist and Brandt Harper, Ryder Cali and Evgeny Dubrovtsev also scored for North Bay. Goaltender Mike McIvor stopped 30 of 35 shots before a crowd of 2,610 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
The Battalion, which lost 5-3 Saturday night at Owen Sound, is 4-5-0 for eight points, tied with the Brampton Steelheads and Barrie Colts for second place in the Central Division.
“Overall, what a good first period, maybe our best period of the season right there,” said Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen. “I think it was a bit of a shame that we came out of that down 1-0. We weren’t able to finish on some of our chances, and then I knew they were going to reset and come out hard in the second period, and they certainly did.”
Wray gave Owen Sound a 5-2 lead with the eventual winner on the power play at 2:09 of the third period before the Troops responded with goals by Cali and Dubrovtsev. Cali connected with the man advantage at 10:17 for his team-leading seventh goal of the season, assisted by Cam Warren and Greer, and Dubrovtsev cashed a feed from behind the net from Parker Vaughan two minutes later. Nolan Laird also assisted on Dubrovtsev’s second goal.
With McIvor on the bench, North Bay was skating five against four when Crawford fired the puck into the empty net from his own zone at 18:52 for his third goal.
The Battalion, which trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes, tied it at 4:17 of the middle period when Harper struck off a four-on-two rush, taking a back pass from Ihnat Pazii and scoring from the left circle. Lirim Amidovski also assisted on defenceman Harper’s second goal.
Owen Sound benefited at 5:26 when Sykora, credited with his seventh goal, converted a Pierce Mbuyi rebound. The play survived a six-minute review by linesman Devon Marson, although video clearly showed two Attack player never cleared the zone as the puck skipped across the blue line for an instant. In keeping with a new rule, the Battalion received a delay-of-game penalty for a failed challenge.
Nelson scored shorthanded at 10:22 off an odd-man rush before Greer beat George from the right circle at 16:39 with the teams skating four a side. Aaron Enright and Pazii assisted on defenceman Greer’s first goal.
Delisle capitalized during a two-man advantage at 19:50, one-timing the puck from deep in the right circle. Mbuyi and Michael Dec assisted.
Sykora, scoring for a league-high fourth straight game, gave the visitors the lead at 17:35 of the first period. After Bronson Ride was whistled for holding, the only penalty in the frame, Sykora connected on the power play, snapping the puck from the left faceoff dot on assists by Cole Zurawski and Crawford.
The score belied the shots count, which had the Troops with a 14-3 advantage, but George and a number of wide drives kept the home team scoreless.
The Battalion returns to action with a visit to Barrie at 7:30 p.m. Saturday to open a home-and-home series, part of the OHL’s inaugural Rivalry Week. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: CAA North & East Ontario sponsored the game … The Battalion has an all-time won-lost-tied record of 17-9-0 on Thanksgiving Day, including a won-lost-extended mark of 8-3-0 at North Bay … The Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and their incarnations in Mississauga as the St. Michael’s Majors and Steelheads have been the opposition 13 times. Owen Sound, the Niagara IceDogs and Sudbury Wolves account for three games each, while the Peterborough Petes have played in two. Barrie and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds have one appearance each … The Battalion went 1-for-5 on the power play. Owen Sound was 3-for-6 … Opening lines included Ethan Procyszyn centring left winger Pazii and right winger Amidovski, Dubrovtsev pivoting left winger Pronin and right winger Moses and Warren centring left winger Cali and right winger Vaughan. Briir Long centred left winger Laird and right winger Nick Wellenreiter … Defence pairs had Ride with Harper, Enright with Greer and Jonathan Kapageridis with Adrian Manzo … The Battalion was without Declan Gallivan, Ryder Carey and Carter Kunopaski … The Attack’s Jacob Therrien, in concussion protocol, again was scratched … Delisle has a nine-game points streak, the league’s longest, in which he has four goals and nine assists for 13 points. His seven-game assists streak also is the OHL’s best … Mbuyi has a seven-game points streak in which he has five goals and five assists for 10 points.
