Battalion wins opener
NORTH BAY, Ont. — Ty Nelson and Justin Ertel each recorded one goal and one assist as the North Bay Battalion defeated the Kingston Frontenacs 4-2 Thursday night in the opener of a best-of-seven Ontario Hockey League Eastern Conference quarterfinal.
Anthony Romani and Dalyn Wakely also scored and Sandis Vilmanis earned two assists for second-seeded North Bay, which hosts Game 2 at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Goaltender Dom DiVincentiis faced 27 shots before a Memorial Gardens crowd of 3,042. DiVincentiis earned his 14th playoff win, moving him past Thomas McCollum into sole possession of second place on the club’s all-time list.
Jacob Battaglia and Quinton Burns scored for seventh-seeded Kingston, while goaltender Mason Vaccari stopped 23 of 26 shots, with Ertel scoring an empty-netter.
Romani opened the scoring at 10:18 of the first period. Owen Van Steensel collected a stretch pass from Nelson and dropped the puck to Romani, whose initial shot Vaccari kicked away with the right pad. Romani spun to gather the rebound and slid the puck home from a sharp angle to the goaltender’s right. Romani left the game later in the period and did not return.
The Troops held an 11-7 edge in shots in the frame. Ertel had two good close chances late after missing the top corner with Vaccari down in the 14th minute. The Frontenacs, who didn’t record a shot until midway in the period, had their best chance on the power play when DiVincentiis denied Battaglia at the left post in the 17th minute.
Bronson Ride and Kingston’s Nathan Poole engaged in a brief fight out of a scrum at 6:34 that ended with Ride getting the takedown.
Battaglia scored 21 seconds into the second period off a neutral-zone turnover, driving to the net and steering a Christopher Thibodeau feed between DiVincentiis’s pads.
Nelson restored the Battalion’s lead at 5:47, just 12 seconds after a North Bay power play ended, when his low drive from the blue line beat a screened Vaccari. Assisted by Wyatt Kennedy and Ertel, the goal marked defenceman Nelson’s 37th postseason point, tying Brenden Miller for fourth place on the franchise list.
Wakely netted what proved to be the winner at 15:19, positioning himself at the right of the crease and redirecting a Paul Christopoulos blast past Vaccari. Vilmanis, who circled the zone looking for a play, earned the second assist.
Kingston again struck less than a minute after an intermission when rearguard Burns beat DiVincentiis high to the glove side at 41 seconds of the third period.
The visitors had several excellent chances in the fifth minute. Jax Dubois’s shot off a left-wing rush hit the crossbar, prompting a brief video review, and DiVincentiis had to make good stops in close in succession on Battaglia and Thibodeau. Gage Heyes had a good chance off the left wing in the 12th minute, and Ethan Miedema missed an excellent opportunity from the left circle in the 18th.
Vaccari went to the bench for a sixth skater with 1:52 left to play, and Ertel hit the empty net at 18:53 with Vilmanis earning the lone assist.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion has won 19 of 39 playoff series in its history, including 10 of 17 since relocation to North Bay from Brampton in 2013. In 205 playoff games, the Troops have a won-lost record of 96-109, including 52-50 in home dates. As North Bay, the club is 49-43 in postseason games, having gone 28-18 at home … The Battalion is 24-16 in the opening game of a playoff series, including 16-4 at home. The Troops are 8-2 in series openers at North Bay … Each team was 0-for-3 on the power play … Wakely had a team-high five shots on goal, while Ertel registered four. Matthew Soto topped Kingston with four … Opening lines saw Wakely centring left winger Van Steensel and right winger Romani, Liam Arnsby centring left winger Ertel and right winger Vilmanis, and Ethan Procyszyn pivoting left winger Brice Cooke and right winger Jacob Therrien. Left winger Ihnat Pazii and right winger Lirim Amidovski had various linemates … Therrien spent much of the game skating in Romani’s place with Wakely and Van Steensel … Defence pairs were Kennedy with Nelson, Tnias Mathurin with Christopoulos, and Ride with Jacob LeBlanc. Trevor McDowell also saw action … The Battalion scratched Brayden Turley, Nolan Laird, Andrew LeBlanc and Stef Forgione … LeBlanc lost a third straight game to a forearm injury … Kingston’s missing were Vann Williamson, Adam Cavallin and Xander Velliaris … Drew Jackson and Brendan Kane were the referees.
