Brampton defeats Battalion
BRAMPTON, Ont. — Julian DeMiglio and Kieran Witkowski scored a goal apiece as the Brampton Steelheads edged the North Bay Battalion 2-1 Saturday in an Ontario Hockey League game.
Goaltender Zach Bowen provided 37 saves in a sterling performance as Brampton, which lost 6-3 Friday night to the host Niagara IceDogs, evened its won-lost-extended record at 6-6-0 for 12 points, third in the Central Division.
Cam Warren scored for the Battalion, which opened a two-game road trip. Goaltender Jack Lisson faced 32 shots before 1,525 at the CAA Centre.
North Bay, which had won its previous three games, is 7-6-0 for 14 points, second in the division.
The Battalion lost rookie Ryder Cali to a separated shoulder suffered in a first-period scrum. He leads the Troops in scoring with seven goals and has earned four assists for 11 points in 13 games.
Brampton, which led 1-0 at the first intermission, doubled its lead during a two-man advantage scheduled for 1:00 when Witkowski popped home a rebound from the goalmouth at 10:37 of the middle period. Jakub Fibigr and Parker von Richter assisted on Witkowski’s fifth goal of the season. Bronson Ride and Adrian Manzo were off for tripping and delay of game respectively.
Warren replied at 15:18, wiring the puck past Bowen from the right circle off a rush. Parker Vaughan and Kent Greer assisted on Warren’s third goal.
Ryder Carey and Brampton’s Reed Gee scrapped 25 seconds later. Carey received an instigating minor and misconduct in addition to a fighting major, and Gee was handed a crosschecking minor with his fighting major.
The Battalion had two power plays in the third period, with Shamar Moses hitting the crossbar with the man advantage after Matej Stankoven was whistled for holding 30 seconds into the frame.
Vaughan drew a tripping call at 18:09, meaning the Troops skated only five on five with Lisson pulled late. Lirim Amidovski sent the puck just wide right in the closing seconds.
DeMiglio opened the scoring at 16:08 of the first period with his fourth goal, driving into the slot to put the puck inside the left post low to Lisson’s glove side. Witkowski and von Richter assisted.
The Steelheads held a 13-10 edge in shots in the penalty-free period as the Battalion experienced occasional problems organizing a breakout.
The Troops’ best scoring chance occurred when Vaughan was set up alone in front off a two-on-one rush with Warren only to have Bowen produce a solid stop at the 12-minute mark. In the 16th minute, Amidovski couldn’t control a bouncing puck at the crease with Bowen scrambling back into position.
The Battalion completes the trip against the Kitchener Rangers at 6 p.m. Sunday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion wore its white uniforms on the road as Brampton donned black-based alternate sweaters … It was the first of six season meetings, with the next scheduled Dec. 11 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens … Cali saw the end of a five-game points streak in which he had four goals and four assists for eight points … The Battalion went 0-for-3 on the power play. Brampton was 1-for-4 … Opening lines featured Ethan Procyszyn centring left winger Moses and right winger Amidovski, Evgeny Dubrovtsev centring left winger Ihnat Pazii and right winger Arseny Pronin and Warren pivoting left winger Cali and right winger Vaughan. Carey centred left winger Briir Long and right winger Nick Wellenreiter … Defence pairings were Ride with Brandt Harper, Aaron Enright with Greer and Carter Kunopaski with Manzo … Carey returned after losing eight games to injury … The Battalion was without Jonathan Kapageridis, Declan Gallivan and Nolan Laird … Among the missing for Brampton was Gabriel Chiarot, who faces supplemental discipline after a blindsiding major and game misconduct at Niagara … Brampton acquired Joshua Avery from the Brantford Bulldogs on Oct. 2 for third- and fifth-round picks in the 2029 OHL Priority Selection. He was a third-rounder in 2023 from the Peterborough Petes U16s … Bowen was backed up by Lucas Johnson of Evanston, Ill., a second-round pick in April from the Chicago Reapers 15U team … Alex Joubert and Pat Myers were the referees.
