Kingston visit a special time
NORTH BAY, Ont. — Coach Ryan Oulahen understands there’ll be no sympathy for the North Bay Battalion from Ontario Hockey League opponents as the Central Division leaders experience bumps in the road.
The Kingston Frontenacs will play their third game in three days at 4 p.m. Sunday when they visit the Battalion, which lost 4-2 to the Mississauga Steelheads on Thursday night at Memorial Gardens, on YourTV Hockey Day in the OHL.
“The thing is, when you don’t have a good performance, nobody feels sorry for you,” noted Oulahen.
“Kingston’s not going to come in here and go, ‘Oh, they didn’t have a good performance the last game. Maybe we should let them back in.’ No, they’re going to sniff blood, so we’ve got to make sure that this doesn’t happen. We’ve got to be better at home.”
North Bay, with a won-lost-extended record of 33-13-2 for 68 points, is second in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the East Division’s Ottawa 67’s, who have two games in hand and a Saturday night date at the Saginaw Spirit, for top spot in the league. Kingston is 22-21-3 for 47 points, fourth in the East, before a Saturday night visit to the Barrie Colts.
The Battalion fell behind Mississauga 3-0 before rallying on goals by Matvey Petrov and Josh Bloom to pull within one. James Hardie then extended his points streak to 13 games, which ended in a 4-0 road loss Friday night to the Sudbury Wolves, with an empty-net goal in the final minute.
Bloom scored with the man advantage, giving the Battalion one power-play goal in 14 opportunities in the last three games, including a 5-1 victory Wednesday night at Sudbury in which the Troops went 0-for-7. But, by Oulahen’s admission, they also looked out of synch at even strength against the Steelheads, as they have in recent games.
“You’ve got to bounce back the next day. These are all things that we’ve already been talking about, for sure. There’s no doubt we can get some healthy guys back in the lineup, which will help, and go to work.”
North Bay has had several regulars sidelined with injuries or illness for varying times, including, in the case of Tnias Mathurin, all but one game this season. Justin Ertel, Pasquale Zito and Luc Brzustowski have missed recent games, with Liam Arnsby expected to return to action Sunday.
“No tweaks are needed,” said Oulahen. “It’s literally just guys being dialed, guys being prepared, everybody being sharp and ready to play.”
The Kingston clash is the middle of three games to be telecast as a triple-header on YourTV, accounting for the later-than-usual start. Ottawa visits the Sarnia Sting at 1 p.m. and the Owen Sound Attack is at the Windsor Spitfires at 7 p.m. in the other offerings.
One fan will win an autographed Battalion sweater, and minor hockey teams, which can get group tickets at a special price, are encouraged to wear their sweaters to the game. Teams can take part in a postgame skate with mascot Sarge.
The game also features the start to 60th-anniversary celebrations of Les Compagnons, the French-language cultural organization. Its mascot, Bonhomme, will participate in a ceremonial faceoff.
