Better Luck Next Time
Brampton, ON- The Brampton Steelheads fall to the North Bay Battalion, 6-5, in a close overtime battle after Ethan Procyszyn took home a hattrick.
After coming off a big 5-2 victory in Kitchener, the Steelheads looked to continue their momentum on home ice. While there was a slow start in the first, the floodgates would open, and a game of scoring, hard hits, and special teams would ensue.
While the Battalion would take the lead multiple times throughout the game, the Steelheads were always there to battle back and tie things up. Yet after 60 minutes of play, the game would stay tied and go into an intense overtime battle before Parker Vaughn would get the game-winner with 11.3 seconds left.
The first ten minutes of play saw no scoring at either end; instead, the game was filled with hard hits and a lot of back-and-forth between teams. However, that soon changed once the period’s second half began as the Battalion opened the scoring.
The Battalion captain, Procyszyn, got the game’s icebreaker from Jacob Leblanc’s rebound. After Brayden Gillespie made the initial save to keep the score even, Procyszyn quickly picked up the rebound to get another scoring opportunity in motion. Using his speed, Procyszyn dangled around the defence and sneaked it past Gillespie on the blocker side.
Although the Battalion took the lead, they also opened up the scoring for both sides as the Steelheads soon got their own goal on the power play. Tensions were building at the CAA Centre as the Battalion and Steelheads each laid out some pretty hard hits, but it was a hit from Reed Gee that would lead to Brir Long and Gee dropping the gloves. Yet, once things had settled, the Steelheads found themselves on the power play as Long was called for instigating.
Not wanting to waste the man-advantage, the Trout got things started and set up for a rush into the Battalion zone. Porter Martone carried the puck into the offensive zone, bringing it down low before passing it back up to Carson Rehkopf, who was rushing in behind him. Driving the net, Rehkopf tried to push through the defence to get a shot on goal but was covered off. In a last-attempt effort, he made a sharp pass over to Angus MacDonell, who settled it down and backhanded it into the net.
While excitement built over the tie game, it would be shortlived as the Battalion would take the lead once again only a few minutes later. After the Battalion covered off a clearing attempt, the puck was sent down low and deflected out front to J. Leblanc. With the open lane, J. Leblanc fired it on goal and snuck it between the arm of Gillespie.
The Battalion thought they would end the first in the lead, but they were soon proven wrong as Parker Von Richter tied things up on the power play with less than two seconds to go. Procyszyn’s slashing penalty allowed MacDonell to dump it in deep in the Battalion zone, with Rehkopf and Martone chasing to pick up the puck. With a two-on-one battle behind the net, Martone grabbed the puck from the North Bay defender and sent the puck out front to Von Richter. With no one covering him and Jack Lisson’s attention on the play behind him, Von Richter got the easy one-timer.
After Martone was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, the Steelheads started the second period with a man-down. Looking to capitalize on the advantage, the Battalion immediately started the play off the face-off. Getting the puck at the North Bay blue line, J. Leblanc found Procynszyn in the neutral zone and set him up for the offensive rush. Using his speed, he bypassed the defence to fire one past Gillespie.
While the Steelheads had many opportunities to tie things up again, the Battalion built off the momentum of Procyszyn’s goal and extended their lead to two. Taking it up the right side, Zach Wigle drove into the Steelheads zone as Andrew Leblanc followed behind him. Instead of taking the shot, Wigle sent the puck back to A. Leblanc who got it past Gillespie.
Despite the valiant effort and sequences of saves from Gillespie, the Steelheads decided to bring in Jack Ivankovic to play the remainder of the game.
Once again, the Battalion thought they would end the second with a two-goal lead, but Gabriel Chiarot brought the Steelheads within one. Picking up the puck in the high slot, Chiarot turned and brought it up the left side to drive in deep and snipe one past Lisson top corner.
While the Battalion would start the third with a one-goal advantage, it would not last long as Martone would once again tie things up for the Steelheads. With the puck deep in the corner of the Battalion end, Martone battled the defence to pick up the puck and wrap around the net to send it past Lisson five-hole.
With it tied at four, it was anyones game, but the power of special teams would again allow North Bay to take the lead. Procyszyn and J. Leblanc proved to be a powerful duo in this game as J. Leblanc set Procyszyn up for the hat trick again. After MacDonell was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, J. Leblanc picked up the puck and sent a cross-ice pass to set Procyszyn for the breakaway. Using his speed, he bypassed the defence and brought the puck high slot before beating Ivankovic over the shoulder.
Despite the Battalion lead, the Steelheads did not back down easily and worked hard to battle back and force overtime. MacDonell scored the game-tying goal with a beautiful backhand during the power play. Nolan Laird’s roughing penalty allowed Vilmer Alriksson to send a pass down low to MacDonell, who drove the net, flipped it on the backhand and beat Lisson down low on the blocker side.
After 60 minutes, the game remained tied and forced overtime. Ivankovic had several incredible saves to keep the Steelheads going. While the Steelheads had many chances-including a late breakaway from Martone- with 11.3 seconds left, Vaughn would get one past Ivankovic and secure the battalion win.
The Steelheads look to come back at home next Friday as they take on the Owen Sound Attack. For tickets, click here.