Bulls defeat Troops amid controversy
BELLEVILLE, Ont. – Aaron Berisha’s power-play goal at 6:14 of the third period proved the winner as the Belleville Bulls edged the North Bay Battalion 4-3 in a controversy-ridden Ontario Hockey League game Saturday night.
Remi Elie scored two goals and added one assist and David Tomasek also scored for the Bulls, who moved their won-lost-extended record to 4-10-3 for 11 points, fifth in the East Division. Goaltender Charlie Graham faced 51 shots.
Alex Henriksson, Nick Paul and Barclay Goodrow scored for the Battalion, 9-8-1 for 19 points, tied with the Mississauga Steelheads for first place in the Central Division. Goaltender Brendan O’Neill, making a fourth straight start, allowed four goals on 22 shots in 46:14 of action before giving way to Evan Cormier, who made eight saves the rest of the way in his OHL debut.
The Troops won two earlier meetings with the Bulls, posting a 4-1 road victory Sept. 21 for their first win representing North Bay and prevailing 3-2 in overtime at home last Sunday. The teams complete their four-game season series March 6 at Memorial Gardens.
Elie, who opened the scoring at 4:55 of the first period, depositing a back pass from Brendan Gaunce under O’Neill’s right arm, made it 2-0 at 9:36. The Bulls enjoyed a two-man advantage when Elie hammered home a Justin Bean pass from a sharp angle to O’Neill’s left.
Henriksson halved the deficit at 11:04 with his second goal of the season. A penalty was pending against Bean when Henriksson, who had been hauled down on the rush, slipped into the deep slot and buried a pass from Jamie Lewis from behind the net.
The Troops believed they had tied the game at 17:40, when a Dylan Blujus left-point shot glanced off a body into the net. Referee Scott Oakman signaled a goal but was overruled upon video review, and Battalion coach Stan Butler said he never received a satisfactory explanation as to why. Goodrow, who may have been thought to have caused the redirection, said he never touched the puck and that it went off defender Adam Bignell.
Butler said he thought the Troops may have scored seconds later, when Brett McKenzie barreled into the Belleville crease in pursuit of a Matt MacLeod shot that made it at least onto the goal line before being swept away by the scrambling Graham or a teammate.
Paul tied it 2-2 on the power play 35 seconds into the second period, moving out of the right-wing corner and slipping the puck between Graham’s legs.
Tomasek put the Bulls back in front at 8:16, just 21 seconds after Blujus went off for roughing, tipping Justin Lemcke’s shot from the blue line. Berisha, who also had an assist, then restored Belleville’s two-goal lead in the final frame, firing a shot past a screened O’Neill after spinning in the slot.
The goal sent O’Neill to the bench in favour of Cormier, who also backed up the starter in a 5-1 road decision Friday night over the Kingston Frontenacs. With Jake Smith recovering from a hamstring inury, Cormier, a fifth-round pick in the OHL Priority Selection in April, was called up from the Northern Ontario Junior League’s North Bay Trappers for the Troops’ two-game road trip.
Goodrow pulled the Battalion within a goal on the power play at 13:59, one-timing a cross-ice pass from Mike Amadio over Graham’s glove. The goal was Goodrow’s eighth, tying him with Paul for the team lead.
The Troops pressed for the equalizer, with their best chances coming in the 15th minute, when Connor Jarvis fired a shot off the cross bar from the deep slot, and in the 19th, when Graham stopped a Henriksson shot from the right-wing circle.
The Battalion hosts the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
BATTALION BULLETS: Attendance at the Yardmen Arena was 2,498 … The Battalion went 2-for-4 on the power play. Belleville was 3-for-5 … MacLeod played his 246th game with the Battalion, passing Jay Harrison for sole possession of eighth place on the franchise’s career list … With an assist on Paul’s goal, Blujus has 45 career power-play assists, one more than Jason Maleyko and sixth in franchise history … The Battalion’s 51 shots were a season high, eclipsing the 39 they recorded twice previously … Opening line combinations included Lewis centring Paul on left wing and right winger Goodrow, Amadio pivoting McKenzie on left wing and right winger MacLeod and Jared Steege centring left winger Vincent Praplan and right winger Henriksson. Jarvis centred left winger Mike Baird and right winger Mathew Santos … Apart from Smith, Battalion scratches were Kyle Wood, Brandon Robinson, Blake Clarke and Calvin Gomes … Belleville acquired overage centre Cameron Brace on Thursday in a trade with the Owen Sound Attack, sending two OHL Priority Selection picks, a fourth-rounder in 2014 and a second-rounder in 2017, the other way. Brace who scored 35 goals and earned 39 assists for 74 points in 66 games in 2012-13, had four goals and six assists for 10 points in 13 games with the Attack this season. He received an eight-game suspension, a ban that equates to five games with Belleville. Brace is eligible to play for the Bulls on Nov. 16 against the visiting London Knights.
