Battalion rallies to win
NORTH BAY, Ont. — Justin Ertel and Anthony Romani each scored one goal and added an assist as the North Bay Battalion rallied to a 4-2 victory Thursday night over the Brantford Bulldogs in an Ontario Hockey League game.
Jacob Therrien and Dalyn Wakely scored the other goals for North Bay, which improved its won-lost-extended record to 17-13-6 for 40 points, tying the Mississauga Steelheads for second place in the Central Division.
Goaltender Dom DiVincentiis provided 25 saves before a crowd of 2,501 as Tnias Mathurin, who sat out the previous 14 games after suffering an injury Nov. 19, returned to the Battalion blue line.
Cole Brown had one goal and one assist and Florian Xhekaj also scored for Brantford, which led 2-0 early in the middle period. Goaltender Matteo Drobac allowed three goals on 27 shots, with Romani scoring into an empty net. Brantford is 17-11-7 for 41 points atop the East Division.
Wakely scored the winner when he converted a pass from the right-wing corner for his 17th goal of the season at 7:14 of the third period. Owen Van Steensel and Romani had the assists.
Van Steensel and Romani staged a two-man break-in earlier in the period only to have Drobac come up with a solid save against Van Steensel.
With Drobac pulled for an extra skater, Romani escorted the puck to the goalmouth and steered it home for his team-leading 28th goal, an unassisted effort, at 18:42.
Brown opened the scoring at 3:11 of the second period, breaking down the left wing to the net and tucking the puck between DiVincentiis’s legs. Callum Cheynowski had the lone assist on Brown’s seventh goal.
Xhekaj struck for his 13th goal at 7:43, slipping around Alex Cajkovic and beating DiVincentiis high to the blocker side. Calvin Crombie and Brown assisted.
Ertel responded with his 15th goal at 11:17 when he stripped Jorian Donovan of the puck in the neutral zone and raced in alone to put the disc over the dropping Drobac’s blocker.
Therrien tied it, driving off the left wing to score between Drobac’s legs from a sharp angle at 15:10. Ertel and Wyatt Kennedy drew assists on Therrien’s 13th goal.
The Battalion held a 9-8 edge in shots in the scoreless first frame, highlighted by Romani’s final-minute breakaway. Drobac sprawled to his left to deny a forehand attempt at 19:21.
Brantford took the only two penalties of the period, but the Troops, despite mounting sustained attacks, failed to capitalize.
The Battalion visits the Ottawa 67’s at 7 p.m. Friday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: A moment’s silence was observed in memory of Ken Miller, a longtime North Bay resident and OHL official who passed away Monday at 75 … Per OHL protocol starting Jan. 1, the Battalion wore its dark sweaters at home instead of the whites … The game marked the first visit to North Bay by a Brantford-based OHL team since the Alexanders defeated the Centennials 3-2 on Feb. 5, 1984. It was the second of four meetings this season, after the host Bulldogs won 5-4 in overtime Oct. 27. The next encounter is Feb. 3 at Brantford … Romani has a 13-game points streak in which he has 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points … Each team went 0-for-2 on the power play … Opening lines included Wakely centring left winger Van Steensel and right winger Romani, Liam Arnsby centring left winger Ertel and right winger Therrien and Ethan Procyszyn pivoting left winger Ihnat Pazii and right winger Brice Cooke. Dylan Richter centred left winger Carter Kostuch and right winger Nolan Laird … Defence pairings had Mathurin with Paul Christopoulos, Cajkovic with Kennedy and Trevor McDowell with Brayden Turley … The Battalion was without Tyson Rismond, Reyth Smith, Zach Wilson, Ty Nelson, Pasquale Zito, Stef Forgione, Lirim Amidovski and Mike McIvor… Laird celebrated his 18th birthday … Donovan, like Nelson, was a late addition to Canada’s defence at the World Junior Championship … Among the Bulldogs’ scratches was Patrick Thomas.
