Generals overcome Battalion rally
OSHAWA, Ont. – Boone Jenner, Lucas Lessio and Tyler Biggs scored two goals each to power the Oshawa Generals to a 7-4 Ontario Hockey League victory Sunday night over the Brampton Battalion.
Bradley Latour scored the other goal for Oshawa, while Jenner and Biggs each added an assist as the Generals denied a comeback that saw the Battalion rally from a 3-0 deficit to a 3-3 tie.
Goaltender Daniel Altshuller made 29 saves for Oshawa, which won a third straight game in three days. The Generals, with a 4-1-0 won-lost-extended record, suffered their only defeat by a 4-2 count Sept. 21 against the host Sudbury Wolves.
Barclay Goodrow scored two goals and Blake Clarke and Mathew Santos one each for the Battalion, 1-2-1. It was the first OHL goal for each of Clarke, who also had an assist, and Santos.
Starting goaltender Matej Machovsky gave up three goals on seven shots before being relieved at 8:52 of the first period by Jake Smith, who surrendered four goals on 18 shots the rest of the way in his regular-season debut before a crowd of 3,207 at the General Motors Centre.
Lessio connected on the power play at 1:17 of the third period, scoring from the top of the left-wing circle to give Oshawa a 4-3 lead, and Biggs collected the eventual winner from the mid slot at 9:28 as the Generals kept a bouncing puck up the middle inside the blue line. Biggs then scored again on a rebound at 11:16.
Latour scored his first OHL goal, having delayed to shoot, on a two-on-one rush at 14:22, before Santos replied at 15:23, blasting the puck home from above the right circle.
Clarke tied it 3-3 with the man advantage at 10:35 of the second period. Spencer Abraham wristed a point shot, and Clarke went to the net to put the puck behind Altshuller. Mike Amadio drew the other assist.
Goodrow’s second goal of the game and season cut the Troops’ deficit to one at 3:08. Lessio was off for high-sticking when Goodrow converted the rebound of a shot by Mitch Amante, who had just finished serving an instigating penalty to Cameron Wind, off a three-on-one rush.
The Generals scored three goals in a span of 3:31 in the first period to put the Battalion in an early hole.
Jenner struck first at 5:21, taking advantage of a weak clearing attempt by Amante. Chris Carlisle corraled the puck on the left-wing boards and fired it at the net, with Jenner getting the deflection.
Lessio scored on the power play at 8:41, wiring a shot from the left circle after taking a feed from Matt Petgrave.
Jenner connected 11 seconds later on a long shot from the right wing that beat Machovsky on the short side and ended his night.
Goodrow responded with the man advantage at 15:45, converting a Brandon Robinson pass from the right-wing corner at the left lip of the crease.
The Battalion killed a two-man disadvantage lasting 50 seconds late in the period after Amante and Goodrow each received a crosschecking penalty.
The Battalion scratched Marcus McIvor, Connor Jarvis and Matt MacLeod. Oshawa was without Pat Hamilton, Adam Lloyd, Matt Hore and Sebastian Uvira.
The Battalion hosts the Kingston Frontenacs at 7 p.m. Thursday.
BATTALION NOTEBOOK: The Battalion went 3-for-7 on the power play. Oshawa was 2-for-5 … Clarke and Amadio, the Troops’ first- and second-round picks respectively in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection last April, and Santos each earned his first OHL point. Amante collected his first point with the Battalion … Opening line combinations included Patrik Machac centring left winger Robinson and right winger Santos, Jamie Lewis centring left winger Nick Paul and right winger Goodrow and Nicholas Foglia pivoting left winger Derek Froats and right winger Amante. Brennan Feasey centred left winger Clarke and right winger Amadio … MacLeod sat out with a high-ankle sprain suffered on his last shift of a 1-0 victory Friday night over the visiting Belleville Bulls. He tried to practise Saturday but left the session early … Rookie Smith, 17, played last season for the junior A Orangeville Flyers … Goodrow hit the right post on the power play in the second minute of the first period, and Lewis rang a shot off the left post in the 20th … Jarvis remained sidelined with an injury incurred in a preseason game, while McIvor missed a second straight game with a sore back … Left winger Lloyd, a former member of the Battalion whom the Generals acquired in a preseason trade with Kingston, sat out with a broken knuckle … Centre Michael Dal Colle, the only underager in the Oshawa lineup, was the club’s first-round pick, seventh overall, in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection … Jenner is the OHL’s leading scorer, with 12 points from seven goals and five assists in five games … Brampton resident Petgrave had two assists, as did fellow Oshawa defenceman Colin Suellentrop … The referees were Patrick Brown and David Gauthier.
