Battalion victorious over Steelheads
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Mike Amadio scored one goal and added an assist and goaltender Matej Machovsky made 35 saves as the Brampton Battalion skated to a 3-1 victory Friday night over the Mississauga Steelheads in a penalty-free Ontario Hockey League game.
Blake Clarke scored late in the second period to break a 1-1 tie, and Nicholas Foglia added an empty-net goal for the Battalion, which won a third straight game and improved its won-lost-extended record to 28-21-9 for 65 points, second in the Central Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Brampton, which will relocate to North Bay next season, is 3-2-2 against Mississauga after winning what was, barring a playoff meeting between the teams, its final visit to the Hershey Centre, where an announced crowd of 2,374 watched. The teams complete their season series March 8 at the Powerade Centre.
Riley Brace scored for Mississauga, while goaltender Tyson Teichmann faced 26 shots. The Steelheads are 25-28-5 for 55 points, fifth in the division and seventh in the conference.
Referees Ryan Park and Sean Reid saw fit not to call a penalty in the battle of Peel Region rivals, which was far from a love-in. The officials missed a Kristoff Kontos high stick that clipped the Battalion’s Nick Paul in the face at the 14-minute mark of the final period.
“That’s a first for me,” said Battalion assistant coach Ryan Oulahen. “I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a game that there were no penalties, but it is what it is. We won and will move on.
“For the most part, we’re happy with the effort tonight. We knew we were going against a Mississauga team that prides themselves on their work ethic, so we had to make sure we were prepared to play.”
Machovsky produced a number of stellar saves in the third period to preserve the one-goal lead before Foglia scored into the empty net at 19:48. Machovsky denied Sam Babintsev from pointblank range in the third minute and produced a right-pad stop against Kontos on a rebound in the 12th.
Machovsky, who earned his 50th win in Battalion colours, came up big again in the 17th minute, when he got his left pad on a dangerous screened blast from the left point by Stuart Percy.
Clarke gave the Battalion a 2-1 lead with the only goal of the second period, at 19:43. Amadio fed the puck deep into the left-wing corner to Matt MacLeod, who ripped it across to Clarke below the right circle for the quick conversion and his 19th goal of the season.
“The game was pretty tight at that point, and we were close in shots as well,” said Oulahen. “For us to get that goal, we had confidence that, if we played 20 minutes of good hockey, we had a chance to come out with the win.”
Brendan Childerley and Foglia threatened in the Mississauga goalmouth after Brenden Miller delivered the puck from the left point in the 14th minute of the middle period, and Brandon Robinson came close to beating Teichmann on a screened drive at 14:14 off a play set up by Paul.
Amadio opened the scoring at 12:18 of the first period with his fifth goal. Zach Bell fired the puck from the right-wing boards, and MacLeod forced Teichmann to make a solid right-pad save on the rebound before Amadio converted into a gaping net from the left side.
Brace was credited with the tying goal, his 20th, at 17:02, although it appeared that he never touched the bouncing rubber after Dylan Smoskowitz took a shot from the left circle that caught Machovsky moving and beat him between the legs.
Smoskowitz fired the puck off the left side of the net from deep on the left wing in the 19th minute, and shortly thereafter Robinson necessitated a right-pad save by Teichmann on the rebound of a Bell drive.
In the final minute of the frame, Cameron Wind deftly cleared the puck when Smoskowitz tried to slip the disc through the crease to Brace.
The Battalion scratched Mathew Santos. Mississauga scratches were Eric Diodati, Scott Teskey, Nick Zottl and Andres Kopstals.
The Battalion hosts the Kitchener Rangers at 2 p.m. Sunday.
BATTALION NOTEBOOK: The Battalion is the least penalized team in the league at 10.2 minutes per game. Mississauga ranks 14th at 13.2 minutes, while the Owen Sound Attack leads the penalty parade with 18.5 minutes … The Battalion is 11-13-6 on the road. Mississauga is 16-12-2 at home … MacLeod and Bell had two assists each … Barclay Goodrow played his 240th game with the Battalion, tying Ken Peroff for ninth place on the club’s career list … Machovsky, 21-15-7 with two shutouts this season, is 50-39-13 with the Battalion since a Dec. 1, 2010, trade from the Guelph Storm. He ranks fourth in career goaltending wins with the Troops and is tied with Patrick Killeen for the club record for shutouts with eight … Clarke, a first-round pick in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection, is third in rookie scoring with 46 points, including 27 assists, in 58 games … Defenceman Wind returned to the lineup after sitting out a 5-3 victory Monday over the host Ottawa 67’s with a sore groin. It was the first game Wind had missed since the 2010-11 season … Opening line combinations included Jamie Lewis centring Francis Menard on left wing and right winger Goodrow, Patrik Machac pivoting left winger Robinson and Paul on right wing and Amadio centring left winger Clarke and right winger MacLeod. Foglia centred left winger Connor Jarvis and right winger Childerley… Machac, who hit the right post with Teichmann gone for a sixth attacker, saw the end of a three-game points streak during which he scored two goals and earned three assists for five points … Diodati sat out with a hand injury. He returned to the lineup for an 8-2 road win over the Niagara IceDogs on Thursday night after missing 15 games.
