Generals strike late for 3-2 victory
NORTH BAY, Ont. – Michael Dal Colle scored at 19:14 of the third period to give the Oshawa Generals a 3-2 Ontario Hockey League victory Sunday over the North Bay Battalion.
Josh Sterk and Cole Cassels also scored for Oshawa, which has a won-lost-extended record of 36-15-5 for 77 points atop the East Division and Eastern Conference. Goaltender Ken Appleby, making the start in his home town after posting two straight shutouts, faced 31 shots.
Barclay Goodrow and Nick Paul scored for the Battalion, 29-21-6 for 64 points, second in the Central Division and tied with the Kingston Frontenacs for third in the conference. Brendan O’Neill allowed one goal on 15 shots after relieving starter Jake Smith, who left with a strained neck at 7:28 of the first period. Smith had surrendered two goals on four shots before a crowd of 3,515.
“Any time you lose a game in the last minute, it’s tough on your team,” said coach Stan Butler. “We had our chances. The opening ceremonies lasted 15 minutes, and we had to get our legs. It was 2-0 due to some breakdowns on our part, and then we started chipping away. Barclay got a big goal to get us back into the game, and from there we played a pretty solid game. When you’re playing a top team you don’t dominate them, but I thought we had more of the play than they did.”
After the teams, tied 2-2, traded chances throughout the third, Oshawa found the winner when Scott Laughton fed the puck to Aidan Wallace, who lofted a centring pass that eluded defender Marcus McIvor and landed on the stick of a driving Dal Colle, who slipped it home for a team-leading 34th goal on the season.
“Their guy made a pass and got a pretty good bounce over a stick, and unfortunately for us the puck landed on the stick of one of the top goal scorers in the league, and he doesn’t miss opportunities like that,” said Butler.
Paul was awarded a penalty shot eight seconds after the ensuing faceoff when he was hauled down by Colin Suellentrop after splitting the defence. Paul’s penalty shot ended as he lost control of the puck attempting a forehand deke.
O’Neill went to the bench for a sixth skater at that point. Josh Brown blocked a Brenden Miller shot from the blue line, and Appleby scrambled in his crease to find the puck after another Miller shot.
Sterk took advantage of a Vincent Praplan turnover to open the scoring at 2:16 of the first period, and Cassels charged to the net to convert a feed from Justice Dundas at 5:13. Dal Colle had the other assist.
Smith lay prone on the ice for several minutes after being clipped in the head by teammate Kyle Wood following the goal. Smith received attention from athletic therapist James Borrelli and stayed in the net before heading off 2:15 later.
Goodrow struck for a shorthanded goal at 11:48 after jumping on a Laughton turnover and taking off on a breakaway. Goodrow cut to the net and slipped the puck between Appleby’s legs for a team-leading 27th goal.
Goodrow set a franchise record with his 10th career shorthanded goal, breaking a tie for the mark with Wojtek Wolski. It was Goodrow’s fifth shorthanded score this season, tied for the OHL lead with Laughton and the Barrie Colts’ Joseph Blandisi.
The goal snapped Appleby’s shutout string at 169:47. He hadn’t been beaten since Matia Marcantuoni scored for the Kitchener Rangers at 2:01 of the second period of a 3-2 victory by the visiting Generals on Feb. 7.
Paul’s 22nd goal tied it at 1:14 of the second period. Matt MacLeod did yeoman work in the right-wing corner and got the puck into the slot to Paul, who shrugged off Cassels’s backchecking attempt and chipped the disc past Appleby’s blocker.
The Battalion visits the Peterborough Petes at 2:05 p.m. Monday in a holiday matinee. The game can be seen live in North Bay on TVCogeco Cable 12.
BATTALION BULLETS: Oshawa was the last Eastern Conference team to visit North Bay this season. The Generals defeated the Battalion 3-2 in overtime Jan. 1, and the Troops prevailed 5-1 in a return trip to Oshawa on Jan. 31. The Generals are at Memorial Gardens on March 13 to complete the season series … Appleby made a fourth straight start after filling in for Daniel Altshuller, the backup against the Battalion, as he served a three-game suspension for a fight Feb. 6 with Peterborough counterpart Andrew D’Agostini. After finishing up that game, a 4-3 road loss via shootout, Appleby faced Kitchener and then blanked the Petes 4-0 last Sunday night and the Ottawa 67’s 6-0 Friday night. He made a total of 41 saves in the home-ice shutouts. Oshawa picked Appleby, 18, in the second round of the 2011 OHL Priority Selection from the North Bay Trappers midgets … Goodrow has a six-game points streak during which he has four goals and two assists for six points … In 279 games, MacLeod has 52 goals and 68 assists for 120 points, 23rd in franchise history, one more than Tyler Harrison … Each team went 0-for-3 on the power play … Opening lines included Mike Amadio centring left winger Ben Thomson and right winger Goodrow, Paul pivoting left winger Zach Bratina and right winger MacLeod and Brett McKenzie centring left winger Praplan and right winger Alex Henriksson. Jamie Lewis centred Jared Steege on left wing and right winger Mathew Santos … Battalion scratches were Riley Bruce, Mike Baird, Connor Jarvis and Calvin Gomes.
