Trout complete sweep
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — James Hardie scored two goals and goaltender Joe Ranger made 27 saves for the shutout as the Mississauga Steelheads blanked the North Bay Battalion 3-0 Friday night to sweep the teams’ Ontario Hockey League home-and-home series.
Callum Chisholm scored the other goal for Mississauga, which improved its won-lost-extended record to 26-18-4 for 56 points, first in the Central Division, Eastern Conference and league. The Steelheads opened the set with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.
Goaltender Joe Vrbetic faced 26 shots for North Bay at an empty Paramount Fine Foods Centre. The Battalion, 19-15-6 for 44 points, second in the division, has lost five straight games, going 0-3-2 in that span since a 4-1 home-ice verdict Jan. 20 over the Sudbury Wolves.
The Battalion suffered a second shutout this season, the first a 1-0 home-ice setback Dec. 12 to the Barrie Colts.
With the Troops beset by more injury trouble as Alexander Lukin was added to those sidelined, Brett Bouchard made his OHL debut.
Down 2-0 through 40 minutes, the Battalion maintained hopes of a rally, but Hardie’s team-leading 28th goal of the season at 5:36 of the final frame cut into the visitors’ chances. After the Battalion’s Paul Christopoulos fell at the right point, Hardie converted off a three-on-one rush and passing play with Ty Collins and Luca DelBelBelluz.
North Bay received a two-man advantage lasting 40 seconds when Ethan Del Mastro and Michael Stubbs were penalized at 7:13 and 8:33 respectively, but Ranger, who leads the OHL with three shutouts, scrambled to deny Mitchell Russell, Owen Van Steensel, who hit the post, Brandon Coe and others.
Chisholm made it 2-0 at 9:50 of the second period with his first OHL goal, driving into the left circle to convert the rebound of a right-wing shot by Owen Beck. Zander Veccia had the other assist.
The Battalion, boosted by all three power plays in the period, had a 13-5 edge in shots. Vrbetic robbed Hardie on a backdoor effort at the left post in the 11th minute and denied him on a breakaway seconds later.
A sprawling Ranger, who stymied Kyle McDonald on back-to-back attempts at the left lip of the crease at 11:38, saw Nikita Tarasevich miss on a pointblank effort in the 16th minute.
Hardie capitalized on a two-man advantage at 16:31 of the opening period, knocking home an airborne puck on assists by DelBelBelluz and Del Mastro. With Ty Nelson off for hooking, Christopoulos followed a couple of Vrbetic stops with a save of his own before being called for tripping, putting the Troops two men short for a scheduled 51 seconds, but Mississauga connected after only nine.
The Steelheads forged a 17-6 edge in first-period shots, with the teams trading solid chances as Ranger denied Dalyn Wakely in tight on an odd-man rush in the fifth minute and Vrbetic foiled Kai Schwindt at the doorstep in the 16th.
The Battalion plays host to the Ottawa 67’s at 2 p.m. Sunday.
BATTALION BULLETS: It was the division rivals’ sixth of 10 games, with the Battalion having gone 2-4-0. The teams are scheduled to meet next at Mississauga on Feb. 11. A game postponed from Jan. 13 at North Bay has yet to be rescheduled … The Battalion went 0-for-5 on the power play. Mississauga was 1-for-2 … Right winger Bouchard, who signed a standard player’s agreement, including an education package, on Tuesday, was called up from the Toronto Jr. Canadiens U18 team. A ninth-round pick in the 2021 OHL Priority Selection from the Markham Majors U16 squad who measures six feet and 172 pounds, he turned 17 on Jan. 18 … With 26 goals and 39 assists for 65 points in 39 games, Coe is tied atop the OHL points parade with Wyatt Johnston of the Windsor Spitfires, who scored two goals in a 3-2 win over the host Guelph Storm … The Battalion was without Liam Arnsby, Matvey Petrov, Kyle Jackson, Dom DiVincentiis and Lukin, who has an upper-body injury … Owen Wray again backed up Vrbetic after DiVincentiis was struck in the head by Danil Gushchin of the Niagara IceDogs in a 3-2 road loss via shootout Tuesday night. Gushchin was suspended for four games … Among Mississauga’s scratches was Max Dodig … In six games against the Battalion, Hardie has six goals and three assists for nine points … In six games against North Bay, DelBelBelluz has nine assists.
