Sudbury defeats Battalion
Henry Doucet and Vladimir Provorov scored first-period goals to send the Sudbury Wolves to a 3-1 victory Friday night over the North Bay Battalion in Ontario Hockey League preseason action.
Blake Clayton added an empty-net goal. Goaltender Finn Marshall started and finished, giving up one goal on 12 shots over 33:45. Jason Tremblay stopped all seven shots he faced in 26:24.
Sudbury has a won-lost-extended record of 3-1-0 in exhibition play, including a 4-3 victory via shootout Sept. 3 over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League at Timmins, Ont.
Ihnat Pazii scored for North Bay, while goaltender Charlie Larocque allowed two goals on 18 shots. The Battalion, which has lost its last two games, is 3-2-0.
Doucet opened the scoring 1:59 into the game, dashing down the right wing and cutting to the circle to beat Larocque from the faceoff dot. The unassisted goal was Doucet’s first of the preseason.
With the teams skating four a side, Provorov scored what proved to be the winner at 10:18, his second goal. Hudson Chitaroni fired the puck from high on the right side, and Provorov, a second-round pick in the OHL Priority Selection in April, directed it into the net from the left lip of the crease.
Pazii struck for his third goal at 3:10 of the second period, assisted by Nick Wellenreiter. Pazii may have surprised Marshall with a shot from the far side of the right circle. Tremblay relieved Marshall immediately after the goal.
Evgeny Dubrovtsev took exception to Ryder Carey being dumped into the end boards and drew a checking-from-behind penalty at 15:18 before Marshall McCharles was sent off for slashing at 16:22, ending the man advantage. Carey then received a misconduct penalty at 17:59 for words to referee Brendan Kane.
The Battalion had a final power-play opportunity after Noah Roberts was sent off for tripping at 15:30 of the third period, when Marshall reentered the game in place of Tremblay. But the Troops failed to generate sustained pressure on the Sudbury net.
The Battalion went 0-for-5 on the power play. Sudbury was 0-for-3.
With Larocque on the bench for a sixth attacker, Clayton completed the scoring into the empty net at 18:53 after he got loose on a two-man breakaway.
The Battalion completes its preseason schedule when it plays host to the Owen Sound Attack at 4 p.m. Saturday.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion Fan Fest starts at noon Saturday at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens. Outdoor entry is free, with fans asked to bring non-perishable food donations for the North Bay Food Bank. Prizes include two tickets to the home opener next Thursday night … Opening lines featured Dubrovtsev centring left winger Arseny Pronin and right winger Carey, Pazii centring left winger Briir Long and right winger Wellenreiter and Cam Warren pivoting left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Parker Vaughan. Javian Nei centred left winger Ryder Cali and right winger Jax Pereira … Defence pairs had Jonathan Kapageridis with Brandt Harper, Aaron Enright with Kent Greer and Carter Kunopaski with Adrian Manzo … The Battalion was without Mike McIvor, Declan Gallivan, Ethan Procyszyn, Shamar Moses, Bronson Ride and Lirim Amidovski … Jack Lisson backed up Larocque … Nei, who has yet to join a team, was recalled and made his OHL debut. A 12th-round pick in 2024 from the Toronto Jr. Canadiens U16s, he played last season for Toronto’s Upper Canada College … McIvor, Procyszyn, Moses, Ride and Amidovski are at National Hockey League rookie camps. Sam Rivet has been released to join the North Bay Trappers U18s.
