Battalion captures exhibition opener
SUDBURY, Ont. – Kyle Moore and Mike Amadio scored two goals each to lead the North Bay Battalion to a 6-4 victory Sunday over the Sudbury Wolves in the Ontario Hockey League preseason opener for both teams.
Jared Steege and Brett McKenzie also scored for the Battalion, which hosts Sudbury in a rematch at 2 p.m. Monday in a Labour Day matinee.
Battalion starting goaltender Jake Smith gave up two goals on 20 shots, while reliever Evan Cormier allowed two goals on 19 shots after entering the game at 10:57 of the second period.
Jacob Harris, Ivan Kashtanov, Connor Burgess and Pavel Jenys scored for Sudbury. Starting goaltender Michael Muzyka surrendered four goals on 29 shots before Samuel Tanguay, who entered the game at the same time as Cormier, gave up two goals on 21 shots.
Burgess scored at 9:08 of the third period to cut Sudbury’s deficit to 4-3, but Moore, a fifth-round pick in the OHL Priority Selection last April, struck at 11:19 for what proved to be the winner. Moore snapped the puck past Tanguay from traffic in the goalmouth.
Jenys pulled the Wolves back within one at 17:37 before McKenzie completed the scoring at 19:04, going in alone to slip the puck home on the backhand after a Zach Poirier pass from the right wing.
Harris opened the scoring at 2:17 of the first period, cashing a rebound, before Moore replied off a rush at 5:26, with Nick Paul drawing the lone assist.
Amadio scored high to the blocker side at 10:44, having intercepted a failed clearing pass after Muzyka was forced to play the puck off a save with no opponents crashing the crease.
Kashtanov tied it at 14:05, shoveling a rebound home from the left side, but Amadio connected 49 seconds later to give the Troops a lead they never relinquished. Amadio took a pass from David Sherman in the right-wing corner and spun to fire the puck between Muzyka’s legs. Shawn Tessier had the other assist.
Steege scored the only goal of the middle period at 10:57, beating Muzyka from the left side off a nifty three-way passing play with Calvin Gomes and Kyle Locke.
BATTALION BULLETS: Assistants Ryan Oulahen and John Dean ran the Battalion bench as head coach Stan Butler observed from the stands and elsewhere … The Battalion went 0-for-6 on the power play. Sudbury was 0-for-3 … With Barclay Goodrow, North Bay’s overage captain last season, having graduated, Paul served in that capacity for the game … Opening line combinations included Amadio centring left winger Sherman and right winger Mathew Santos, Steege skating between Hampus Olsson on left wing and right winger Gomes and Paul centring left winger Owen Green and right winger Moore. McKenzie centred left winger Zach Bratina and Poirier on right wing … Defence pairings featured Zach Shankar with Riley Bruce, Kyle Wood with Mark Shoemaker and Tessier with Locke … Sherman, Olsson, Green, Moore, Poirier, Shankar and Shoemaker made their OHL debuts … Battalion scratches were Marcus McIvor, Miles Liberati, Mike Baird, Alex Henriksson, Jamie Lewis and Brenden Miller … Sudbury was without eight players, including Nicholas Baptiste, Nathan Pancel and Brody Silk … The referees were Joe Park and Andrew Thompson.
