Battalion suffers stinging defeat
NORTH BAY, Ont. – Nikita Korostelev scored two goals, including the winner on the power play at 18:11 of the third period, as the Sarnia Sting defeated the North Bay Battalion 5-3 in an Ontario Hockey League game Thursday night.
Korostelev also earned two assists for Sarnia, which got two goals and one assist from Nikolay Goldobin and an empty-net goal and two assists from Daniel Nikandrov. Goaltender Taylor Dupuis made 41 saves as the Sting moved its won-lost-extended record to 10-17-2 for 22 points, fifth in the West Division.
Nick Paul scored two goals and Ben Thomson one for the Battalion, 13-15-1 for 27 points, fourth in the Central Division. Goaltender Jake Smith faced 22 shots before a crowd of 2,960.
“We didn’t get a save all night,” said Battalion coach Stan Butler. “We had chances to bury pucks. We had a three-man breakaway that we didn’t score on, and we had chances late in the game. Sarnia made some great plays on the goals, but we made some bad mistakes.”
For the second consecutive home game the Battalion outplayed its opponent but failed to win. The Troops outshot the Ottawa 67’s 41-15 in a 4-3 loss Nov. 28.
“We’re not a nursery school,” said Butler. “We don’t give marks for effort. You’re not going to get cookies and a glass of milk at the end of the day.”
With the teams tied 2-2 to start the third period, the Battalion’s Miles Liberati turned the puck over in the neutral zone and, after Sarnia broke in on a three-on-one, Korostelev converted a Nikandrov pass at 4:29 to put the visitors ahead 3-2.
Paul’s 12th goal of the season pulled the Troops even at 16:17. Paul dashed into the Sarnia zone to gather a puck sent up the right-wing boards by Dylan Blujus and put a wrist shot under the crossbar from deep in the right circle. It was Blujus’s second assist of the game, and Blake Clarke had the other.
After Mike Amadio was whistled for hooking at 17:35, the Sting capitalized as Korostelev, Sarnia’s first-round pick in the OHL Priority Selection last April, shoveled home the rebound of a Jimmy McDowell shot from behind the goal line.
The Troops thought they had tied the game at 19:06 with Smith on the bench for a sixth skater. Barclay Goodrow centred the puck to Vincent Praplan, who jammed at it with Dupuis sprawled in the crease. Referee Matthew Traub waved off a score, and play resumed after a video review.
“If you can get an explanation on that, please give it to me,” Butler told the media. “The referees didn’t even have the courtesy to come over and explain to us what happened.”
Nikandrov finished the scoring into the empty net at 19:45.
Thomson opened the scoring on the power play at 5:40 of the first period, cruising across the goalmouth and redirecting Blujus’s shot from the left point, but Goldobin tied it at 12:01. He took a pass in the right circle from Nikandrov, waited for Liberati to commit and tucked the puck inside the post.
Paul put the Battalion back in front at 14:25. Matt MacLeod seized a turnover at the Sarnia blue line and fed the puck to Paul, alone deep in the zone. Paul eluded a Dupuis pokecheck and slipped the puck between the goaltender’s legs, but Goldobin responded 18 seconds later when he put a feed from Anthony DeAngelo past a sliding Smith from the left circle.
In the scoreless second period, Goodrow was foiled on a three-man breakaway in the eighth minute, with Dupuis poking the rebound away from a charging Thomson as Amadio also was behind the defence.
The Battalion visits the Niagara IceDogs at 7 p.m. Saturday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on TVCogeco Cable 12.
BATTALION BULLETS: The crowd was the smallest in 11 Battalion games at Memorial Gardens. The previous low was 3,079 for the Ottawa game … The Sting earned a split of the teams’ season series after the Troops prevailed 5-2 at Sarnia on Sept. 29 … The Battalion went 1-for-2 on the power play. Sarnia was 1-for-1 … Paul ended a seven-game scoring drought … Clarke’s assist was his first point since he scored at Sarnia. He missed 14 intervening games with a torn rotator cuff … Opening line combinations included Amadio centring left winger Thomson and right winger Goodrow, Paul centring left winger Clarke and right winger MacLeod and Jamie Lewis pivoting left winger Praplan and right winger Alex Henriksson. Jared Steege centred Brett McKenzie on left wing and right winger Mathew Santos. Left winger Mike Baird also saw action as the Troops dressed 13 forwards and five defencemen … The Battalion scratched Kyle Wood, Connor Jarvis and Calvin Gomes … Goldobin and DeAngelo extended points streaks to nine games. Russian import Goldobin, who has 10 goals and four assists for 14 points in his run, recently had a seven-game goals streak snapped. That run equaled the longest such streak in the OHL this season, by Brock McGinn of the Guelph Storm … Defenceman DeAngelo has been named to the selection camp roster of the United States national junior team for the World Junior Championship at Malmo, Sweden. He is one of three OHLers named to the camp at Minneapolis … Bob Langdon was the other referee.
