Troops rally past Colts
Ryder Cali and Arseny Pronin scored rapid-fire third-period goals to lift the North Bay Battalion to a 4-3 victory Saturday night in the opener of a home-and-home series with the Barrie Colts during the Ontario Hockey League’s Rivalry Week.
Cam Warren had one goal and one assist and Briir Long also scored for North Bay, while Cali added an assist before 3,320 at the Sadlon Arena.
Goaltender Mike McIvor contributed 25 saves as the Battalion rallied to even its won-lost-extended record at 5-5-0 for 10 points, second in the Central Division.
Brad Gardiner scored two goals and added an assist for Barrie, and Kashawn Aitcheson provided one goal and one assist. Goaltender Ben Hrebik made 32 saves.
Barrie, on a four-game losing skid, is 3-6-2 for eight points, tied with the Brampton Steelheads for third place in the division.
The teams complete the series at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens at 2 p.m. Sunday.
North Bay, which trailed 3-2 at the second intermission after surrendering a 2-0 lead, tied it at 10:26 of the final frame when Cali took a slick pass from Warren on the right wing and drilled the puck low to the stick side past Hrebik. It was rookie Cali’s team-leading sixth goal of the season.
Pronin scored the winner 57 seconds later on an unassisted wraparound. Hrebik looked to have the net sealed, but the puck glanced off his stick across the line for Pronin’s fourth goal.
Kent Greer appeared to give the Battalion a two-goal lead with an empty-net marker at 18:59, but video review showed Ethan Procyszyn was offside on the zone entry.
Warren opened the scoring on the power play at 7:50 of the first period, 35 seconds after Gabriel Eliasson went off for interference. Warren converted the rebound of a shot by Procyszyn. Cali also assisted on the second goal by Warren, North Bay’s first-round pick in the OHL Priority Selection in April.
Long collected his first goal 44 seconds later, wiring the puck from the top of the left circle on assists by Nick Wellenreiter and Jonathan Kapageridis.
Gardiner replied with the man advantage at 13:39, hitting the open net from the left side. Aitcheson and Cole Beaudoin assisted.
Aitcheson tied it at 17:08 of the middle period, taking a return pass from Alex Assadourian and putting the puck behind McIvor. Gardiner also assisted on defenceman Aitcheson’s sixth goal.
Gardiner gave Barrie its only lead at 19:15 after a turnover in front of the net when he knocked home the bouncing rebound of an Assadourian shot. Bode Stewart also was credited with an assist on Gardiner’s team-leading seventh goal.
Procyszyn and Beaudoin scrapped at 16:08, with each receiving a fighting major. In addition, Assadourian and Shamar Moses were handed misconducts for failing to clear the area.
BATTALION BULLETS: In the first of six season meetings, Dylan Smoskowitz served as Barrie’s head coach against the Battalion for the first time. A 10th-rounder by the Colts in 2009, he also played with the Mississauga Steelheads and Oshawa Generals … The Battalion went 1-for-2 on the power play. Barrie was 1-for-4 … Opening lines featured Procyszyn centring left winger Ihnat Pazii and right winger Lirim Amidovski, Evgeny Dubrovtsev pivoting left winger Pronin and right winger Moses and Warren centring left winger Cali and right winger Parker Vaughan. Long centred left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Wellenreiter … Defence pairings were Carter Kunopaski with Brandt Harper, Aaron Enright with Greer and Kapageridis with Adrian Manzo … The Battalion was without Declan Gallivan, Ryder Carey and Bronson Ride … Among the missing for the Colts was Finnish import Emil Hemming, with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League and under contract to the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars, who drafted him before Barrie … Assadourian split four seasons between the Sudbury Wolves and Niagara IceDogs. The Colts acquired him and the Sarnia Sting’s fifth-round pick in 2027 from Niagara on June 10 for fellow overager Grayson Tiller … Swedish import Eliasson returned from a three-game suspension after he drew a match penalty for crosschecking in a 6-5 win via shootout Oct. 5 at Niagara … Ryan Harrison and Drew Jackson were the referees.
