RECAP: Kingston battles hard, drops a tightly contested affair to North Bay in Game One
Story of the Game: It’s the most wonderful time of year if you’re a hockey fan. No, it’s not Christmas quite yet, but tonight marks the start of the 2024 OHL Playoffs. Your Kingston Frontenacs kick off their playoff run in North Bay against the two seeded Battalion; two teams that split the season series against one another with both sides winning twice on the year.
This isn’t your typical 2 seed versus 7 seed matchup as it was a tight race in the Eastern Conference this year, so the series is up for grabs. The Frontenacs have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so strap in for what should be an exciting series of playoff hockey.
Scoring Summary:
1st Period
KGN 0, NB 1
10:18 Anthony Romani (1) – Owen Van Steensel, Ty Nelson
After weathering the storm for the first ten minutes of action, the Frontenacs got caught on a two-on-one after a lob pass from Ty Nelson from his own end. Owen Van Steensel corralled the puck, just barely staying onside, and dropped it to the regular season scoring champion Anthony Romani. Mason Vaccari made an incredible stop, but the rebound fell right back to Romani who would score and put the home team up 1-0.
2nd Period
KGN 1, NB 1
0:21 Jacob Battaglia (1) – Chris Thibodeau
It didn’t take long for Kingston to get on the board after the second period began, as Jacob Battaglia and Chris Thibodeau linked up for a give and go to get the Fronts on the scoresheet. Battaglia fed the puck ahead to Thibodeau who drew a defender towards him, freeing up Battaglia to drive to the net uninterrupted. Battaglia would shoot the puck along the ice and underneath the pad of Dominic DiVincentiis to tie the game up at one a side.
KGN 1, NB 2
5:47 Ty Nelson (1) – Wyatt Kennedy, Justin Ertel
The Battalion would be quick to respond to Kingston’s tying goal, as Ty Nelson converted on a North Bay man advantage. Quinton Burns found himself in the box after taking a penalty after a whistle and with one of the team’s best penalty killers in the box North Bay was sure to take advantage. The puck was cycled around the offensive zone before Nelson unleashed a cannon of a one-timer that beat Mason Vaccari to give his team a 2-1 lead.
KGN 1, NB 3
15:19 Dalyn Wakely (1) – Paul Christopoulos, Sandis Vilmanis
After killing off a penalty the Battalion took some of that momentum and converted it into their third goal of the night off a wild deflection from Dalyn Wakely. A shot from the point from Paul Christopoulos ended up deflecting off the shaft of the stick of Wakely who was in front of the net. The puck looked to be going wide of the net and Wakely had even turned away from the puck as it was coming right towards him, but it caught the shaft of his stick and ended up behind Vaccari.
3rd Period
KGN 2, NB 3
0:40 Quinton Burns (1) – Linus Hemström, Jax Dubois
Another quick start to a period gave the black and gold their second of the night and got them right back into the game thanks to Quinton Burns. After Jax Dubois won the puck back after an aggressive forecheck, Linus Hemström fed the puck to Burns who faked the initial shot but then fired it over the glove of Dominic DiVincentiis to make it a 3-2 game heading down the stretch.
KGN 2, NB 4
18:53 Justin Ertel (1) – Sandis Vilmanis
After Quinton Burns got the Frontenacs back within a goal at the start of the third it was all Kingston. The black and gold dominated puck possession and outshot the Battalion in the third as they were looking to tie the game up.
With Mason Vaccari on the bench for the extra attacker, a missed pass gave the puck to Sandis Vilmanis who flipped it up ahead for Justin Ertel who had a wide open cage to seal the victory for the home side and give them a 1-0 lead in this first round best of seven series.
3 Stars of the Game:
- Ty Nelson (NB) – 1 G, 1 A
- Dalyn Wakely (NB) – 1 G
- Dominic DiVincentiis – 25 SV
BMW Kingston Hardest Worker of the Game:
Jax Dubois
