Battalion blitzes Petes
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. — Anthony Romani scored two goals and added three assists as the North Bay Battalion rode a six-goal first-period to a 7-3 victory over the Peterborough Petes in an Ontario Hockey League game Saturday night.
Owen Van Steensel scored three goals and earned one assist, and Liam Arnsby provided one goal and one assist and Justin Ertel the other goal for North Bay, which improved its won-lost-extended record to 13-8-5 for 31 points, tied atop the Central Division with the idle Mississauga Steelheads, who hold two games in hand.
Goaltender Charlie Robertson made 37 saves for the Battalion, which played the middle game of a three-game road trip after an 8-6 win Friday night over the Kingston Frontenacs. The Troops face the Ottawa 67’s at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Battalion, which posted a season-high third straight win, equaled a franchise record with the six-goal period, tying a mark set in the second frame of a 12-1 home-ice rout of Ottawa on March 16, 2014.
Samuel Mayer scored two goals and Owen Beck one for Peterborough, 13-7-4 for 30 points, tied for first place in the East Division with Ottawa, which suffered a 4-3 overtime loss at home Saturday to the Flint Firebirds.
Goaltender Zach Bowen surrendered six goals on 17 shots before Liam Sztuska took over to start the second period. He stopped 25 of 26 shots before a sellout crowd of 3,868.
Ertel opened the scoring from the slot at 1:05 of the first frame, firing home an Arnsby pass from the right-wing circle. Jacob Therrien also assisted on Ertel’s 10th goal of the season.
Van Steensel struck from the goalmouth at 3:27, converting a Romani feed on a drive out of the left corner, with Dalyn Wakely drawing the second assist, before Arnsby backhanded a rebound behind Bowen at 4:14.
Defenceman Mayer replied 1:19 later when his shot from a sharp angle on the right wing sneaked into the net at the post.
Romani connected from the top of the right circle on the power play, the Troops skating four against three, at 7:25, assisted by Ty Nelson and Van Steensel, and added a team-leading 22nd goal at 15:40 off a backhanded pass from Ihnat Pazii.
Van Steensel capped the scoring in the period at 19:15 off a left-wing faceoff. Romani had the sole assist.
Mayer scored his 10th goal from deep on the left side at 13:08 of the second period, and Beck collected his team-high 15th goal at 19:00 when he cut across the goalmouth from the left wing.
Van Steensel scored on a forehand scoop between his own legs from the slot at 3:01 of the final frame. Romani assisted on Van Steensel’s 15th goal, which gave him his second three-goal game of the season.
The game at Ottawa can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: It was the teams’ second of four meetings, after the Petes prevailed 6-5 in overtime Nov. 16 at Memorial Gardens. Their next encounter comes March 16 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre … Romani ranks second in the league in goals and, with 20 assists for 42 points in 26 games, is fourth in points … In 158 games, Nelson has 112 assists, tied with Raffi Torres for eighth place on the all-time franchise list. Nelson’s 48 power-play assists are tied with Luke Lynes for ninth in franchise history … Alex Cajkovic and the Petes’ Quinn Binnie fought midway in the second period, with each handed a major … The Battalion went 1-for-3 on the power play. Peterborough was 0-for-3 … Opening line combinations included Wakely centring left winger Van Steensel and right winger Romani, Arnsby pivoting left winger Ertel and right winger Therrien and Ethan Procyszyn centring left winger Pazii and right winger Brice Cooke. Dylan Richter centred left winger Carter Kostuch and right winger Lirim Amidovski … Defence pairs saw Cajkovic with Nelson, Trevor McDowell with Wyatt Kennedy and Brayden Turley with Paul Christopoulos … Kennedy left the game with a lower-body injury … The Battalion was without Tnias Mathurin, Tyson Rismond, Nolan Laird, Zach Wilson, Pasquale Zito, Stef Forgione and Mike McIvor … Ryder McIntyre made his Petes debut after being acquired Friday from the Oshawa Generals for a sixth-round pick in the 2027 OHL Priority Selection.
