Round 3 Game 3: Generals take down Troops in 5-2 victory for 3-0 series lead
North Bay, Ont. – The Oshawa Generals and North Bay Battalion faced off Monday evening at the North Bay Memorial Gardens for Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals where Oshawa took the game 5-2. The series now sits at 3-0 in favour of the Gens.
Battalion’s Owen Van Steensel opened the scoring after the Generals took the first penalty kill of the game. A holding call on Generals’ Ben Danford allowed the Troops to capitalize and Van Steensel walked right in the slot to put it top shelf on Jacob Oster and make it 1-0.
It was the Generals’ turn on the power play with less than two minutes left, and Colorado Avalanche prospect Calum Ritchie came in clutch after 2024 NHL Draft prospect Beckett Sennecke made a smooth pass in front on the Battalion net, and it was Ritchie who one-timed it to the mesh and evened the score up at one a piece.
Three minutes into the second frame, captain Stuart Rolofs secured the lead for the Generals after firing a shot to the net which hit off of a Battalion skate and went straight past Mike McIvor, gaining a 2-1 lead.
15:19 left on the clock in the second and Van Steensel grabbed another goal, yet the play was reviewed and deemed as goaltender interference.
With the Generals on a power play, Connor Lockhart got on the board after receiving a pass from Luca D’Amato and he walked right in and rifled it past McIvor to gain the insurance goal and push the score to 3-1.
A couple of minutes later, Sennecke did exactly what he does best and danced around an entire Battalion line before deking out McIvor for a highlight reel play and initiating a 4-1 Oshawa lead.
Just over two minutes into the final frame, Sandis Vilmanis cut the Generals’ lead in half by firing a shot past Oster after a smooth feed from Dalyn Wakely.
Ritchie immediately answered back and grabbed a five-hole goal about a minute and a half later for his third point of the night and second goal of the game, sending the boys home with a 5-2 success.
Oshawa and North Bay will meet again this Wednesday, May 1st at the North Bay Memorial Gardens for Game Four of the Eastern Conference Series where Oshawa will have an opportunity to sweep unless the Battalion can find themselves a win.