Troops bounce back for win
SAGINAW, Mich. — What a difference a night makes.
Ryder Carey, Ihnat Pazii and Shamar Moses each scored one goal and added an assist as the North Bay Battalion thumped the Saginaw Spirit 7-1 Saturday night in an Ontario Hockey League game that coach Ryan Oulahen termed a “great response.”
Nolan Laird, Aaron Enright, Kent Greer and Nick Wellenreiter also scored for the Battalion, which erased the effects of a 9-3 loss Friday night to the Flint Firebirds in the opener of a three-game road trip.
Goaltender Jack Lisson provided 16 saves as North Bay moved its won-lost-extended record to 9-9-0 for 18 points, third in the Central Division.
Nikita Klepov had the Spirit goal, while goaltender Kaleb Papineau made 27 saves before 3,452 at the Dow Event Center. Saginaw, which has lost three straight games, is 6-8-5 for 17 points, fourth in the West Division.
Klepov leads rookie scorers with 14 goals and 16 assists for 30 points in 19 games, while Levi Harper, brother of the Battalion’s Brandt Harper, is third in rookie scoring with six goals and 12 assists for 18 points in 19 games.
The teams were tied 1-1 at the first intermission before Laird scored what proved to be the winner at 7:23 of the second period, slipping into the slot to beat Papineau between the legs. Lirim Amidovski and Bronson Ride drew the assists on Laird’s second goal of the season.
Saginaw’s Nic Sima pumped the puck wide on a second-minute breakaway, and Papineau denied Parker Vaughan on a break-in in the 17th minute. The Troops’ Ethan Procyszyn was mugged with an open net in front of him in the closing seconds.
North Bay erupted for five goals in the third period, starting with Pazii’s fourth goal at 5:16. He took a cross-crease pass from Moses and flicked the puck over Papineau’s glove from the right side, with Ride drawing the other assist.
Moses jammed his third goal home at 8:40 off a Procyszyn rebound. Jax Pereia also assisted.
With the teams skating four a side, defenceman Enright struck at 10:24 after Evgeny Dubrovtsev won a right-side faceoff back to the mid blue line, and rearguard Greer bounced a right-point shot past Papineau just 35 seconds later, assisted by Dubrovtsev and Carey.
Wellenreiter completed the onslaught at 17:11 after Pazii went behind the net and fed the puck to the left circle for the conversion. It was Wellenreiter’s third goal.
Klepov opened the scoring at 6:58 of the first period, taking a backhanded shovel pass from James Guo and converting from the right side. Dimian Zhilkin also assisted.
Carey answered at 13:56 with his third goal, darting to the net to cash a pass from the right wing from Arseny Pronin.
The Battalion completes the trip against the Sarnia Sting at 2:05 p.m. Sunday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: North Bay went 0-for-4 on the power play. Saginaw was 0-for-5 … Opening lines had Procyszyn centring left winger Wellenreiter and right winger Vaughan, Pazii pivoting left winger Laird and right winger Amidovski and Dubrovtsev centring left winger Pronin and right winger Carey. Centre Pereira and right winger Moses had various linemates … Defence pairs were Ride with Harper, Enright with Greer and Jonathan Kapageridis with Adrian Manzo. Carter Kunopaski also manned the blue line … The Battalion was without Briir Long, Declan Gallivan, Cam Warren and Ryder Cali … Warren played for Canada Red at the U17 World Challenge at Truro, N.S. He scored the first of two empty-net goals in a 6-3 victory Saturday night over Canada White in the championship game … Among the missing for Saginaw was Ryan Hanrahan, a first-round pick in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection from the Mississauga Reps U16s who was with Canada White … Zach Wilson, traded on Oct. 6, faced his former North Bay teammates for the first time. He has played two games with the Spirit … Saginaw’s Harper was a third-rounder in 2025 from the Shattuck-St. Mary’s 16U team … Klepov, a first-round pick in the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft in July, played last season with the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League. He played minor hockey in Russia but has been in the U.S. since 2023-24 … Kevin McArthur and Derek Risebrough were the referees.
