Sudbury defeats Battalion
NORTH BAY, Ont. — Jean-Christoph Lemieux scored two goals to lead the Sudbury Wolves to a 6-2 victory over the North Bay Battalion in a chippy Ontario Hockey League preseason game Sunday.
Parker Smith and Brayden Bennett each had one goal and one assist, while Rowan Henderson and Kingston Harris also scored for Sudbury. Goaltender Paolo Frasca provided 30 saves at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
With both teams sitting out a number of regulars, Sudbury moved its won-lost-extended record in exhibition action to 3-1-0, including a 3-2 decision over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League at Timmins, Ont., last Wednesday night.
Ryder Carey and Nolan Laird scored for North Bay, which trailed 5-0 after 40 minutes. Goaltender Owen Loftus made 33 saves for the Battalion, which dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen. The Troops are 1-2-0.
Carey got North Bay on the board with a power-play goal at 8:08 of the third period after Henderson drew an instigating minor for a fight with Adrian Manzo that saw each receive a major and game misconduct. Carey connected from between the hash marks off a broken pass from Rene Van Bommel.
Bennett replied at 10:00, cashing a rebound, before Laird completed the scoring at 15:35, redirecting a Van Bommel point shot at the top of the crease.
Lemieux struck at 1:39 of the first period, snapping the puck home off a post on a rush, before Henderson scored at 12:12, netting a wrister from the high slot right after the Battalion’s Kam Hodgson missed on a breakaway off a turnover.
Lemieux collected his third goal of the preseason on the power play at 3:51 of the second period with Alexander Karmanov having been handed a crosschecking major and game misconduct at 2:19.
Oskar Konobelj’s hooking penalty at 4:26 gave the Wolves a two-man advantage for two minutes.
Max Crete and Sudbury’s Liam Ladds fought as part of a melee at 12:49, with each drawing a game misconduct with his major.
Smith scored at 18:11 when his one-timer off an odd-man rush trickled across the goal line, and Harris converted at 19:39 off a cross-ice pass from Bennett.
The Battalion completes its preseason schedule by playing host to the Owen Sound Attack at 4 p.m. Saturday. Fan Fest, with free admission, starts at 12 p.m. and features the red carpet walk, vendors, prizing and more.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion went 1-for-4 on the power play. Sudbury was 1-for-6 … Opening lines had Evgeny Dubrovtsev centring left winger Shamar Moses and right winger Carey, Laird centring left winger Van Bommel and right winger Arseny Pronin and Lincoln Edwards pivoting left winger Crete and right winger Hodgson. Centre Owen Smith and left winger Austin Brekelmans had various linemates … Defence pairings were Aaron Enright with Hayden Barch, Carter Kunopaski with Manzo and Karmanov with Easton Poe. Konobelj was the seventh rearguard … Veteran Mike McIvor backed up rookie Loftus … The Battalion was without Cole Vreugdenhil, Jonathan Kapageridis, Kent Greer, Declan Gallivan, Alexandre Saulnier, Cam Warren, Parker Vaughan, Jax Pereira and Nikolas Rossetto … Poe returned from a one-game suspension for actions in the exhibition opener, a 2-1 win Aug. 30 over the host Brampton Steelheads … Smith, an 11th-round pick in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection from the North Bay Trappers U16s, made his OHL debut … Laird and Van Bommel again were designated as alternate captains … Among Sudbury’s scratches were Adam Nemec, Artem Gonchar, Hudson Chitaroni and Vladimir Provorov … Aiden Dionne and Kyle Whiteman were the referees.
