Battalion Even Series at Two-Apiece
Game four of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals was a highly anticipated showdown between the Petes and Battalion, with the Electric City Kids in search of a 3-1 series lead. Jake Smith was the hero on Thursday night, denying the Petes 28 times as the Battalion tied the series in preparation for game five up north on Friday.
Peterborough had all of the jump in the first period, working to generate excellent possession time in the Battalion zone.
The Battalion hung on by the skin of their teeth in the first ten minutes of the game, listening joyously as Hunter Garlent and Greg Betzold scoring chances rang loudly off the posts. With momentum slowly turning, North Bay looked poised to do some damage on the powerplay, but Mancina and friends were up to their usual penalty kill antics, blocking shots in bunches and keeping the game scoreless.
Neither team could create much zone-time for the rest of the frame, and after twenty minutes the rivals were tied 1-1 with the Petes holding a rare 11-7 shot lead.
The second period was action-packed and the riled up Petes crowd was loud and proud throughout. Peterborough’s PK unit went back to work several times in the stanza, maintaining double-zeroes throughout the first twelve minutes of the period. The visitors would strike, though, as Peterborough native Jacob Ball scored his first career OHL playoff goal, breaking the seal from Steve Harland and Mark Shoemaker.
The Petes put more pressure on the Battalion to finish the second, but North Bay’s 1-0 lead held after forty minutes. The shots favoured the visitors 22-16 after two.
Peterborough battled hard for the equalizer throughout the third period, pouring chances on Jake Smith who, along with Matt Mancina, was exceptional between the pipes. Mancina couldn’t stop ‘em all, though, as Riley Bruce took advantage of a good screen on a powerplay and secured a 2-0 lead for his team from Shoemaker and Zach Poirier.
The Battalion defence unit shut things down with the two-goal lead, turning aside all chances in the final minutes and cruising to the shutout win. The final shots on goal were 32-28 for North Bay.
Smith, Ball, and Mancina were named the first, second, and third stars of the game as voted by the media, and Jonathan Ang was named the Mark’s hardest working player of the game by fans on the Petes Mobile App.
Game five is set for Friday night in North Bay. Tickets are available here for game six back in Peterborough. Don’t forget to download the Petes Mobile App free for iPhone or Android to start earning prizes in the loyalty rewards program today.
