Bloom nets three in win
NORTH BAY, Ont. — Josh Bloom’s third goal of the game, at 2:01 of overtime, lifted the North Bay Battalion to a 6-5 victory Sunday over the Sudbury Wolves, extending the Troops’ Ontario Hockey League winning streak to a season-high eight games.
Kyle McDonald and Nikita Tarasevich each had one goal and one assist for North Bay, which got its other goal from Matvey Petrov in improving its won-lost-extended record to 45-17-3 for 93 points, first in the Central Division and second in the Eastern Conference and league.
The Battalion, four points ahead of the Barrie Colts with each team having three games left to play, moved within a game of clinching top spot in the division and the second seed in the conference playoffs. Any combination of points won by North Bay or lost by Barrie totaling two will see the Troops finish second to the Ottawa 67’s, the East Division champions who have secured first overall in the league.
Rookie goaltender Charlie Robertson made 25 saves before a season-high crowd of 3,617 as the Battalion eclipsed a seven-game winning streak that ran from Oct. 28 through Nov. 12. The Troops, with a home record of 25-5-2, tied the franchise record for home-ice wins in the North Bay era set last season, when they went 25-8-1 at Memorial Gardens.
Ryan Oulahen was credited with his 100th win as the Battalion’s coach. He is 100-53-14 in 167 games with North Bay for an overall OHL record of 152-131-27 in 310 games, including two-plus seasons with the Flint Firebirds. He was confirmed in the Battalion job March 24, 2020, after assuming it on an interim basis Dec. 10, 2019.
Pasquale Zito had three assists and Ty Nelson contributed two, giving him 72 points to tie the single-season franchise record for defencemen set by Michael Vernace with Brampton in 2005-06. Nelson has 22 goals and 50 assists in 65 games, while Vernace registered 10 goals and 62 assists in 68 games.
Chase Coughlan scored two goals and David Goyette had one goal and two assists for Sudbury, while Kocha Delic provided one goal and one assist and Landon McCallum the other goal.
Goaltender Kevyn Brassard faced 43 shots for Sudbury, 29-27-9 for 67 points, fourth in the Central and seventh in the conference. The Wolves, who were missing Nick DeGrazia, Alex Pharand, Kieron Walton and Quentin Musty to injuries and illness and others to suspensions, dressing 11 forwards and seven defencemen, are 5-2-1 in their last eight games.
Bloom, assisted by Brayden Hislop and Zito, wired the winner off the left wing, dashing the comeback hopes of the Wolves, who trailed 4-1 through 40 minutes before outscoring the hosts 4-1 in the third period. Bloom has 31 goals this season, 24 since a trade from the Saginaw Spirit.
McCallum converted a backdoor play 53 seconds into the frame, and Bloom scored off the right wing on a shot that appeared deflected to give North Bay a 5-2 lead at 5:09.
Sudbury then rattled off three goals in a span of 6:29, sparked by Coughlan with a redirection at 6:18 and a followup goal at 8:47 for a total of nine, including eight since a trade from the Guelph Storm. Goyette precipitated overtime with a wrister from the left wing for his team-leading 40th goal at 12:47.
Bloom opened the scoring at 8:46 of the first period, taking a stretch pass from McDonald between defenders at the blue line to race in alone on Brassard, backhanding a shot that trickled over the goal line. Zito also assisted.
McDonald, scoring in a fifth straight game, connected on the power play at 14:46, wiring an Avery Winslow pass to the short side from the left circle. Zito had the other assist on McDonald’s team-leading 34th goal in 42 games.
Delic replied 58 seconds later when he backhanded the puck past Robertson’s blocker. Goyette and Andre Anania assisted on Delic’s 21st goal.
Petrov capitalized with the man advantage at 6:51 of the second period for his 27th goal, one-timing a cross-ice pass from Anthony Romani, with Nelson drawing the second assist. Penalty killer Tarasevich struck at 17:21, taking a Nelson feed and breaking away to roof a backhander behind Brassard. Tarasevich’s 16th goal was his fifth shorthanded tally, tied for the league lead and, with a total of six, ninth place in franchise history with Aaron Snow, Oulahen and Jay McClement.
The Battalion plays host to the Hamilton Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Thursday on Canadore College Community Appreciation Night.
BATTALION BULLETS: On CAA Day, fans won gas cards and a swag bag in a shootout, with other prizes awarded to fans in the stands. CAA, founded in 1913, is a federation of eight regional not-for-profit automobile associations in Canada … The Battalion honoured players’ billets, with videos shown before and throughout the game … The teams completed their season series, with North Bay posting a record of 7-1-0. The visiting Battalion won 7-4 on Nov. 30 and prevailed 7-3 at home Dec. 28 before host Sudbury recorded a 3-2 win Dec. 30. The Troops won 2-1 via shootout at Sudbury on Jan. 11 and 2-1 at home Jan. 22. The Battalion triumphed 5-1 away Feb. 1 and 5-2 at home March 2 … McDonald has an eight-game points streak in which he has eight goals and three assists for 11 points … Tarasevich has a six-game points streak during which he has three goals and four assists for seven points … In eight games against Sudbury, Petrov had five goals and seven assists for 12 points … In eight games with the Battalion against the Wolves, Bloom had seven goals and two assists for nine points … North Bay went 2-for-4 on the power play. Sudbury was 0-for-4 … The Battalion scratched Wyatt Kennedy, Tnias Mathurin, Jacob Therrien, Brayden Turley and Brett Bouchard … Sudbury’s Ethan Larmand and Djibril Toure are suspended until the playoffs … Danny Emerson and Pat Myers were the referees.
