Generals beat Battalion 7-5
PICKERING, Ont. – The Oshawa Generals and Brampton Battalion put the ‘X’ in exhibition Wednesday night.
Oshawa outlasted the Battalion 7-5 in a neutral-site Ontario Hockey League preseason game in which both sides scratched a slew of regulars and let the youngsters play.
Josh Graves, Anton Zupancic and Boone Jenner had one goal and one assist each for Oshawa, which got its other goals from Andy Andreoff, Cody Payne, Nicklas Jensen and Scott Sabourin. Goaltender Michael Zador contributed 27 saves.
Spencer Abraham had two goals and one assist for the Battalion, and Jordan Auld, Marcus McIvor and Matt MacLeod scored single goals. Ian Watters, Sean Jones and Michael Santini had two assists each, while goaltender Jacob Riley faced 32 shots.
The Battalion, with seven players attending rookie camps of National Hockey League clubs, dressed 15 skaters and two goaltenders, three below the 20-man limit. Oshawa had 16 skaters and two goalies in uniform.
The neutral-site game, played before a crowd of 1,042 at the Delaney Arena in the Pickering Recreation Complex, nominally was a home game for the Troops, whose off-ice officials and medical and dental personnel performed those duties.
The Battalion has a won-lost-tied record of 1-1-1 in preseason play, having tied the Kitchener Rangers 2-2 and defeated them 4-3 in a home-and-home set that concluded at Brampton on Sept. 6.
Sabourin scored on a two-man advantage at 56 seconds of the third period, giving the Generals a 7-2 lead, before defenceman McIvor sparked a three-goal Battalion rally with his score at 12:26.
MacLeod tucked a loose puck home in the crease at 15:05, and defenceman Abraham scored on a two-on-one rush with Domenic Alberga 16 seconds later.
Oshawa scored the only two goals of the second period to build a 6-2 lead. Payne backhanded the puck past Riley from close range at 2:18, and Jensen, a rookie Danish right winger, scored on the short side with the man advantage at 14:06.
Oshawa, which jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period, saw Graves open the scoring when he deflected a Zupancic drive at 2:10. Jenner put a shot through traffic at 5:51 with the teams skating four a side, and defenceman Zupancic pinched in on the left wing to score off a pass from Lucas Lessio at 13:44.
The Battalion struck on the power play at 16:57 as defenceman Auld beat Zador from the right point. After Zador stopped Jones on a penalty shot at 17:40, Abraham drove to the net to take a pass from Watters and score at 18:50.
Andreoff connected off a two-on-one rush with Jenner at 19:31. Barclay Goodrow and Jenner drew roughing minors for a scrum on the end boards after the goal, and Oshawa’s John Padulo was assessed a roughing call at 20:00.
Battalion scratches were Cameron Wind, Philip Lane, Scott Tanski, Sam Carrick, Stephon Thorne, Jonathan Johansson and Alex O’Neil. Oshawa scratched Bo Bessette, Josh Brown, Scott Valentine, Andrew Wilson, Tony DeHart, Alain Berger, Cody Alcock, Jeff Brown, Calvin de Haan, Nick Quinn, Christian Thomas, Kyle Hope and Emerson Clark.
The Battalion hosts the Guelph Storm at 7 p.m. Thursday in the fourth of five preseason games.
BATTALION NOTEBOOK: The Battalion went 1-for-6 on the power play. Oshawa was 2-for-7 … The game raised $5,000 for the Durham Dragons special-needs hockey program. A Pickering minor hockey bantam AA team shared in the proceeds to help fund a trip to Europe over the Christmas holidays … Watters and Andreoff, both of whom grew up in Pickering, faced each other for the ceremonial puck drop … The Dragons, including Battalion head coach Stan Butler’s daughter, Sara, played an intrasquad game before the main event … The Battalion dressed eight forwards and seven defencemen, with one rearguard playing up front in each period. Oshawa dressed 12 forwards and four defencemen … Opening line combinations included Goodrow centring left winger Jones and right winger MacLeod and Alberga centring left winger Watters and right winger Santini. Blueliner Kyle Pereira played left wing alongside centre Craig Moore and right winger Andreas Tsogkas. Defencemen Zach Bell and Michael Mastrangelo skated at forward in the second and third periods respectively … In light of the absences, Mastrangelo was recalled from the Villanova Knights, the Battalion’s junior A affiliate. He has played all three exhibition games … Oshawa defender Jimmy McDowell, who had three assists, left in the third period favouring his right arm after a hard check from Goodrow … Assistant coaches Kelly Harper and Mike Tamburro ran the Battalion bench while Butler observed from the media box … The Troops played a preseason game at Pickering on Sept. 11, 2007, skating to a 2-2 tie with the Belleville Bulls … The Battalion hosts Oshawa on Dec. 12 in the first of four regular-season meetings.
