Hard-charging Battalion wins opener
BRAMPTON, Ont. – Evgeny Grachev had one goal and one assist and goaltender Thomas McCollum made 21 saves as the Brampton Battalion blanked the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors 3-0 Thursday night in the opening game of their Ontario Hockey League playoff series.
Josh Day and Thomas Stajan also scored, while Cody Hodgson earned two assists for the Troops, who play at Mississauga at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the second game of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal between the Peel Region rivals.
McCollum became the first Battalion goaltender to post a playoff shutout since Brad Topping made 26 saves in a 7-0 home-ice victory over the then-Toronto St. Michael’s Majors in the opener of a conference semifinal on April 4, 2003.
The second-seeded Battalion, which won a fifth consecutive playoff game after sweeping the Peterborough Petes in the first round, tested Mississauga goaltender J.P. Anderson with 44 shots.
“This was exactly what we wanted,” said Hodgson. “We came out hard right from the start and got all over them. They had a lot of trouble with our guys down low.”
The Battalion hadn’t played since a 3-2 victory at Peterborough seven days earlier, but Hodgson said he wasn’t worried about the team being rusty.
“We were loose. We knew what we had to do and went out and did it. The coaches came up with a great plan for us.”
The Troops outshot fourth-seeded Mississauga 18-5 in the first period and established a physical presence, with Grachev, Anthony Peluso and Jason Dale among those dishing out hits.
“We know they like to play a physical game, and we felt it was important for our guys to match that,” said coach Stan Butler. “I thought we did a pretty good job of that tonight.”
Grachev opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the playoffs at 3:57 of the first period. Brad Albert’s shot from the right point hit Grachev’s skate and caromed off a defender before sliding inside the left post.
Defenceman Day, marking his 21st birthday, made it 2-0 with his first OHL playoff goal at 11:18, beating Anderson with a shot from the left point.
Anderson produced two fine saves in the period. He got his left pad on Grachev’s breakaway attempt in the 17th minute and snared a Peluso shot from the lip of the crease in the 18th.
Stajan scored his first goal of the postseason at 19:10 of the second period. Anderson stopped Matt Kang’s first shot and a followup attempt by Dale. The subsequent rebound bounced to Stajan, who swatted it out of the air at the right post.
McCollum was sharp, making nine saves in the period. He regrouped after giving the puck to the Majors’ Jesse Messier behind the net in the fifth minute and caught a hard shot by Brett Flemming from the top of the left-wing circle in the 11th.
McCollum faced seven shots in the scoreless third period. He lost the puck behind the net but denied William Wallen at the right post, while a sliding Ben Alavie stopped Wallen’s second attempt.
Mississauga had a two-man advantage for 1:34 but failed to record a shot.
“I’m pretty sure our defencemen and forwards blocked plenty of shots tonight,” said McCollum. “That five-on-three showed how hard our guys were battling. They got into the lanes and took away passes and shut down options for their guys.”
Battalion scratches were Kyle Pereira, Cameron Wind and Derek Gregorack. Mississauga scratched Josh McFadden, David Corrente, Kyle Neuber and Riley Brace.
Fans in the Brampton area can see the game at Mississauga live on Rogers Cable 10.
BATTALION NOTEBOOK: Attendance was 2,212 … The Battalion has won its last nine games, including the final four of the regular season. The Troops’ last loss was a 4-1 setback March 6 at Mississauga … The Battalion has won eight home games since losing 3-2 to the Belleville Bulls on Feb. 22 … The Troops went 0-for-7 on the power play. Mississauga was 0-for-6 … The Battalion won five straight playoff games in 2001, sweeping the Guelph Storm in a Western Conference quarterfinal and beating the Erie Otters in the opener of a conference semifinal … The Battalion has a won-lost record of 9-5 in series-opening games … Opening Battalion line combinations included Hodgson centring left winger Grachev and right winger Peluso, Matt Duchene partnering left winger Stephon Thorne and right winger Scott Tanski and Stajan centring left winger Kang and right winger Dale. Sam Carrick centred left winger Craig Moore and right winger Andrew Merrett … Hodgson is the only player to have recorded a point in each of the Battalion’s playoff games … McCollum recorded his second career playoff shutout. He earned his first with Guelph last season … Grachev fired a shot off the crossbar from the left-wing circle late in the second period … Kaspars Daugavins failed to get a shot off after stripping Alavie of the puck and breaking in alone on McCollum in the 16th minute of the second … Majors defenceman Cameron Gaunce left 31 seconds into the game after sprawling and blocking an Albert shot with his helmet. Gaunce returned in the 10th minute … The Battalion, which hosts Game 3 at 2 p.m. Sunday, faced a Mississauga-based team in the playoffs for the first time.
