Kingston defeats Battalion
KINGSTON, Ont. — Robin Kuzma scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Kingston Frontenacs to a 5-1 Ontario Hockey League victory Friday night over the North Bay Battalion, which saw a four-game winning streak ended.
Kieren Dervin and Matthew Frost each had one goal and one assist and Nolan Snyder also scored for Kingston, which won for the first time in five games. Goaltender Gavin Betts made 33 saves as the Frontenacs moved their won-lost-extended record to 25-26-4 for 54 points, fourth in the East Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference.
Sebastien Gervais scored for North Bay, which played the second game of a three-game road trip and is 30-23-3 for 63 points, second in the Central Division and fifth in the conference.
The Troops, who defeated the Peterborough Petes 5-4 Thursday night, slipped four points behind the fourth-place Petes in the conference when they downed the host Brampton Steelheads 4-1.
Goaltender Jack Lisson provided 18 saves before a crowd of 3,179 at Slush Puppie Place.
Kingston grabbed a 3-0 first-period lead, sparked by Dervin at 4:05 when he raced alone down the right wing, came up short to avoid Jonathan Kapageridis and, using the defender as a partial screen, snapped the puck from the circle. Alex McLean and Landon Wright assisted on Dervin’s team-leading 13th goal of the season.
The teams were skating four a side when Kuzma struck from the high slot at 10:33, assisted by Matthew Henderson and Will Bishop.
Frost capitalized on the power play at 18:17, moving off the goal line to Lisson’s left and putting the puck high to the far side. Dervin and Maleek McGowan drew assists on Frost’s eighth goal.
Snyder scored at 4:08 of the middle period when he kept the puck on an odd-man rush and wired the disc from the right circle. Frost and Kuzma assisted on Snyder’s 12th goal.
Kuzma took a backhanded pass from McGowan and connected from the inner edge of the right circle at 8:30, with the other assist on his 12th goal going to Wright.
Gervais scored at 9:12, putting home the rebound of a Kapageridis drive. Ryder Cali also assisted on Gervais’s 19th goal, his seventh in 18 games since arriving from the Saginaw Spirit.
The Troops, who held an 18-9 advantage in second-period shots, continued to compete in the scoreless and penalty-free final frame, outshooting the Frontenacs 12-5.
The Battalion wraps up the road trip against the Ottawa 67’s at 3 p.m. Sunday in a game that can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: It was the third of four meetings, after Kingston won 2-1 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens on Sept. 28 and the visiting Battalion prevailed 4-1 on Nov. 28. The teams face off next Thursday night at North Bay … The Battalion’s Ethan Procyszyn saw the end of a five-game points streak in which he had five goals and six assists for 11 points. Teammate Nick Wellenreiter also had a five-game points streak ended. He had three goals and four assists for seven points in the run … The Battalion went 0-for-1 on the power play. Kingston was 1-for-2 … Opening lines featured Procyszyn centring left winger Kaden Pitre and right winger Wellenreiter, Cali centring left winger Gervais and right winger Lirim Amidovski and Cam Warren pivoting left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Parker Vaughan. Evgeny Dubrovtsev centred left winger Arseny Pronin and right winger Ryder Carey … Defence pairings were Bronson Ride with Brandt Harper, Kapageridis with Kent Greer and Aaron Enright with Hayden Barch … The Battalion was without Mike McIvor, Adrian Manzo, Alexander Karmanov, Carter Kunopaski and Shamar Moses … Among the missing for Kingston were Jack Dever and Aleks Kulemin …. Rookie Kulemin served the fourth game of a five-game suspension issued after a 5-2 loss Feb. 8 to the visiting Brantford Bulldogs. He was assessed a high-sticking minor, but a league review deemed the stick-swinging directed at Owen Protz to be suspension-worthy.
