Niagara closes to two behind Battalion
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – The Niagara IceDogs served notice Saturday night that their battle with the North Bay Battalion for Ontario Hockey League playoff positioning is going down to the wire.
Seven different players scored, all at even strength, to propel Niagara to a 9-2 rout of the Battalion, pulling the IceDogs within two points of the Troops in the fight for second place in the Central Division and third in the Eastern Conference.
Jordan Maletta contributed two goals and one assist, Pavel Jenys scored two goals, Aaron Haydon recorded one goal and three assists and Christopher Paquette, Anthony DiFruscia, Johnny Corneil and Graham Knott each had one goal and two assists for Niagara, which got 27 saves from goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic before 4,799 at the Meridian Centre.
The IceDogs, who scored five unanswered third-period goals, won a fourth straight game to move their won-lost-extended record to 33-25-6 for 72 points. North Bay, which has three games left on its schedule to Niagara’s four, is 32-23-10 for 74 points.
The Barrie Colts have clinched first place in the division, and the Kingston Frontenacs are first in the East Division, seven points ahead of Barrie for top spot in the conference. The first four finishers have home-ice advantage in the opening playoff round.
The lone bright spot for the Battalion, which played the last of five consecutive away games and completed a road trip of three games in as many nights, was Mike Amadio’s 48th goal of the season, which broke the franchise record set by Wojtek Wolski in 2005-06.
Steve Harland also scored, while goaltender Jake Kment faced 38 shots for North Bay, playing a man short after Zach Poirier received a five-game suspension earlier in the day.
Paquette opened the scoring at 1:03 of the first period when he drove to the net and shoveled a loose puck between Kment’s pads. Maletta struck at 11:02, finishing off a three-way passing play by directing home a DiFruscia pass.
Harland replied at 15:47, stripping Haydon of the puck and roofing the rubber over the sprawling Nedeljkovic.
Defenceman Haydon was credited with his fifth goal at 3:24 of the second period when his shot from the blue line caromed off the glass behind Kment and hit the goaltender before ending up in the net.
DiFruscia dashed past Zach Shankar, who failed to corral a bouncing puck at centre ice, and beat Kment on a forehand deke at 12:58 for a 4-1 lead.
Amadio set the Battalion’s single-season standard at 17:16, taking a pass from Maurizio Colella and ripping the puck behind Nedeljkovic to the stick side from the top of the left-wing circle.
Kment faced 10 shots in the period and made several strong saves, including two in the last minute when he got the left pad on a Stephen Harper chance in tight and slid across the crease to thwart Josh Ho-Sang, who slammed his stick on the ice in frustration.
Jenys scored at 3:27 of the final period with the Battalion’s Mathew Santos down behind the play after a Ryan Mantha check sent him crashing into linesman David Jaskula at the Niagara bench, and Corneil tipped home a Haydon shot at 3:58.
Knott struck at 9:01 on a cruise across the goalmouth, and Maletta drove to the net to beat Kment 12 seconds later. It was Maletta’s team-leading 34th goal. Jenys finished the scoring at 11:42.
The Battalion plays host to the Sudbury Wolves at 7 p.m. Thursday.
BATTALION BULLETS: Amadio, with 90 goals and 132 assists for 222 points in 260 career games, is fifth in franchise scoring, one point behind Raffi Torres, and eighth in goals, one behind Jay McClement … North Bay went 3-2-1 against Niagara, the previous meeting a 3-2 overtime loss Feb. 6 at St. Catharines … The Battalion was 0-for-4 on the power play. Niagara went 0-for-2 … Poirier was suspended for an alleged racist remark to the Oshawa Generals’ Jalen Smereck, an African-American from Detroit, in a 2-1 overtime loss Friday night. Poirier has denied making such a comment, and coach Stan Butler said the linesman who reported it misheard what was said … Opening lines saw Amadio centring left winger Colella and right winger Santos, Brett Hargrave centring left winger Jacob Ball and right winger Harland and Kyle Potts pivoting left winger Max Kislinger and right winger Justin Brazeau. Centre Brett McKenzie and left winger Mike Baird had various linemates … Apart from Poirier, the Battalion was without Riley Bruce, David Sherman and Daniil Vertiy … McKenzie marked his 19th birthday, while Kment turns 20 on Sunday … Ho-Sang and Harper each drew one assist. Ho-Sang has a nine-game points run during which he has one goal and 10 assists. Harper has a six-game assists streak numbering eight helpers.
