Battalion defeats Ottawa
NORTH BAY, Ont. — Nick Wellenreiter scored the only goal of a shootout to give the North Bay Battalion a 4-3 victory Wednesday night over the Ottawa 67’s in Ontario Hockey League preseason action.
Lirim Amidovski, Wellenreiter and Ihnat Pazii, who also had two assists, scored in regulation time for North Bay, which overcame a 2-0 second-period deficit.
Starting goaltender Jack Lisson stopped 14 of 16 shots through two periods. Mike McIvor played the third frame, allowing one goal on 14 shots at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
The Troops opened their exhibition schedule with a 4-3 win Sunday over the Owen Sound Attack at Collingwood, Ont.
Jasper Kuhta, Caden Kelly and Nathan Amidovski scored for Ottawa, while goaltender Jaeden Nelson faced 34 shots through 60 minutes. The 67’s lost their preseason opener 2-1 to the host Kingston Frontenacs on Sunday.
In keeping with OHL preseason protocol, the teams skipped overtime and went straight to the shootout after tying 3-3. McIvor denied Ottawa’s Amidovski, the first shooter, Filip Ekberg and, to clinch the win, Thomas Vandenberg. North Bay’s Amidovski, the older of the two brothers, was stopped before Wellenreiter beat Nelson.
Pazii gave the Battalion a 3-2 lead at 10:26 of the third period, beating a defender off the right wing and crashing the net as he poked the puck past Nelson, who ended up in the cage. Brandt Harper and Carter Kunopaski assisted.
Ottawa’s Amidovski precipitated the shootout when he cashed his own rebound at 14:36, assisted by Ekberg and Kohyn Eshkawkogan.
Ottawa, which led 1-0 at the first intermission, doubled its lead when Kelly batted the puck home from the right side of the crease at 9:55 of the second period. Spencer Bowes and Kaleb Dietsch received assists.
The Battalion responded with two goals 12 seconds apart, ignited by Amidovski’s power-play tally at 13:27. He backhanded the rebound of an Aaron Enright right-point shot behind Nelson from the left side of the crease.
Wellenreiter tied it after Pazii, on a rush behind the net, fed the puck in front. Wellenreiter jammed the disc across the goal line while being assaulted by Ryan White.
Lisson came up big at the end of an Ottawa power play following a hooking call against Nolan Laird at 2:32 of the session. The goaltender slid to his left to deny Brock Chitaroni on a backdoor chance.
Kuhta scored at 15:43 of the first period with the quick conversion of a pass from the end boards from Ekberg. The Troops started the sequence when they played the puck back into their own zone.
Ottawa opened the game in a feisty frame of mind, with Zach Houben mugging Pazii at the opening faceoff, and the 67’s continued the questionable conduct to the first whistle. Despite trailing, the Battalion carried most of the play, forging a 13-6 edge in shots on goal.
The Battalion meets the Sarnia Sting at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Midland, Ont., before visiting Ottawa on Saturday.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion wore its green sweaters at home, contrary to the OHL protocol before Jan. 1, because the 67’s hadn’t received their dark equivalents from the supplier … North Bay went 1-for-3 on the power play. Ottawa was 0-for-4 … Opening lines featured Pazii centring left winger Amidovski and right winger Wellenreiter, Cam Warren pivoting left winger Ryder Cali and right winger Parker Vaughan and Evgeny Dubrovtsev centring left winger Arseny Pronin and right winger Ryder Carey. Jax Pereira centred left winger Laird and right winger Briir Long … Defence pairs saw Kunopaski with Harper, Enright with Kent Greer and Devran Brown with Adrian Manzo … The Battalion was without Charlie Larocque, Jonathan Kapageridis, Sam Rivet, Declan Gallivan, Ethan Procyszyn, Shamar Moses and Bronson Ride … Brown, who made his OHL debut, was recalled from the junior A Powassan Voodoos for the game. The Nepean, Ont., resident was a sixth-round pick in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection from the Ottawa Myers Automotive U16s … Austin Brekelmans has decided to return to Culver Military Academy of Culver, Ind., and will play another season with fellow Battalion prospect Kam Hodgson. Both performed well at training camp last week.
