Troops party late after slow start
BRAMPTON, Ont. – On New Year’s Eve, Brampton Battalion fans can believe.
Philip Lane’s second goal of the game, at 4:50 of the third period, proved the winner Friday as the Battalion won its Dec. 31 home game for the 11th time in the club’s 13-year history, defeating the Kingston Frontenacs 5-3. The victory extended an Ontario Hockey League winning streak to three games and pulled the sixth-place Troops, who have a game in hand, within three points of fifth-place Kingston in the Eastern Conference.
Lane, who also earned an assist, was credited with his ninth goal of the season when Michael Santini’s pass from behind the net caromed off one of several bodies and went behind Kingston goaltender Franky Palazzese.
“Honestly, I don’t know what happened,” said Lane. “Santini threw it in front, and their defenceman tried to clear it. I was in there and I don’t know if the puck went off my stick or if the defenceman shot it into their net. It was a good play by Santini to get the puck out there. There were a lot of bodies in front, and it was a good bounce for us.”
Barclay Goodrow had one goal and one assist for the Battalion, which also got goals from Zach Bell and Scott Tanski, the latter into an empty net, before a crowd of 2,068. Goaltender Cody St. Jacques made 30 saves as the Troops improved their won-lost-extended record to 15-14-5 for 35 points, third in the Central Division, at the halfway mark of their season.
Ryan Spooner, Jeff Braithwaite and Sean Jones scored for Kingston, which lost a third consecutive game and is 17-14-4 for 38 points, third in the East Division. Palazzese stopped 36 of 40 shots in a third straight start.
The Troops were in action for the first time since a 7-4 win Dec. 19 over the visiting Sudbury Wolves, while Kingston had played one game since the Christmas break, losing 9-0 to the host Ottawa 67’s on Wednesday night.
“Usually the two worst-played games of your season are the one you play before Christmas and the one you play after Christmas,” said Battalion coach Stan Butler, whose charges fell behind 2-0 in the first half of the first period. “We knew it could be a bit sloppy. They’d played a game and we hadn’t, so we felt they might be a little more game-ready. We knew we had to weather the storm.”
Kingston struck first, scoring eight seconds into a two-man advantage after Stephon Thorne and Cameron Wind were sent off six seconds apart for tripping and delay of game respectively.
The Battalion’s Jordan Auld blocked Michael Fine’s shot from the blue line, but the puck bounced to Spooner, who fired it over St. Jacques’s glove 6:33 into the game. At 8:41, defenceman Braithwaite put a shot from the top of the left circle past St. Jacques.
Lane replied at 10:40, squeezing the puck between Palazzese’s pads from the right circle.
“I was coming down the wing and I was just thinking about shooting and looking for a rebound,” said Lane. “I tried to hit his far pad, and it just squeaked in.”
Blueliner Bell tied it 36 seconds into the second period with his second goal, off a two-on-one rush with Goodrow. Jonathan Johansson earned the second assist in his return after missing the last 19 games, all but two with mononucleosis.
Goodrow gave the Troops the lead at 12:20, firing a shot inside the right post with one second left in a power play. The goal was Goodrow’s 11th.
Jones pulled the visitors even at 3-3 at 16:01. Fine jumped on a Bell giveaway and dished the disc to Jones, who beat St. Jacques high to the glove side with a backhander.
The Troops thought they had taken a two-goal lead at 10:10 of the final period, but referee Brad Beer waved off the apparent score after the goal light came on as the puck sneaked inside the right post. Video review upheld the claim that the puck hadn’t completely crossed the line.
Palazzese left for a sixth skater at 19:06, and Tanski scored his ninth goal into the vacant net at 19:15.
Lane was in the middle of a last-minute skirmish after he was checked heavily into the boards by Conor Stokes, with Thorne and Stokes squaring off. Stokes received a boarding major, while Thorne drew a fighting major and a misconduct for instigating, which carries a two-game suspension.
St. Jacques, who foiled Taylor Doherty on a second-period breakaway, made 12 saves in the final period, including stops against Doherty with the Troops shorthanded and against Corey Durocher from the deep slot.
“They were buzzing around the crease, but the guys blocked a lot of shots, so it wasn’t as busy as it seemed,” said St. Jacques. “I got lucky on Doherty’s breakaway. I kind of put my blocker down because I had a feeling he’d go there. He fired one off my finger and, while it hurt a little bit, I made the save.”
The Battalion scratched Marcus McIvor and Andreas Tsogkas. Kingston, which dressed 12 forwards and five defencemen, one skater below the limit, was without Philipp Grubauer, Mitch Gaulton, Erik Gudbranson, Alex Gudbranson, Derek Froats and Ethan Werek.
The Battalion plays on New Year’s Day for the first time since 2005 when it visits the Belleville Bulls at 7:05 p.m. Saturday.
BATTALION NOTEBOOK: Attendance was the lowest ever for the New Year’s Eve tradition … The Battalion boasts a won-lost-tied record of 11-1-1 on Dec. 31 and has won seven straight such games since a 5-4 loss to the Mississauga IceDogs in 2003. Kingston provided the New Year’s Eve opposition for the first time … The Battalion went 1-for-4 on the power play. Kingston was 1-for-6 … The Troops had a won-lost-extended record of 6-3-1 in December … The Battalion is 9-5-3 at home. The Frontenacs are 9-10-2 on the road … Sam Carrick and Goodrow each has a five-game points streak. Carrick, who earned one assist, has one goal and five assists for six points, while Goodrow has four goals and two assists for six points … The Troops’ Domenic Alberga played his 100th OHL game. He has nine goals and 21 assists for 30 points … McIvor and Alex Gudbranson are with Ontario at the World Under-17 Challenge in Manitoba … In McIvor’s absence, the Troops summoned 17-year-old defenceman Michael Mastrangelo, who made his OHL debut. A fourth-round choice in the 2009 OHL Priority Selection who played four exhibition games this year, Mastrangelo has two points, including one goal, in 30 games with the junior A Villanova Knights … Grubauer and Erik Gudbranson are with Germany and Canada respectively at the World Junior Championship in the Buffalo area … Gaulton sat out with a concussion, while Werek has an injured wrist … The teams split two previous games, with each winning at home. The Battalion returns to Kingston on Feb. 18 to complete the four-game season series … Joe Park was the other referee. Dave Pfohl and Frank Rocca, who missed part of the first period after receiving a cut to his left hand, worked the lines.
