Troops Triumph Trout
North Bay, ON – The Brampton Steelheads had their three-game win streak snapped at the hands of the North Bay Battalion, as they fell 4-2 on the road.
The Trout were tested early when they went to the penalty kill just two minutes in. On the man advantage, Jacob Leblanc connected with Jacob Therrien at the left dot. The Courtice native wired a shot on goal, but Jack Ivankovic slid over to swallow up his one-timer.
Just over six minutes into play, the Steelheads broke the ice. Adam Zidlicky flew down the right wall before cutting to the middle and spinning a behind-the-back pass to Luke Misa at the goal line. Misa quickly returned the puck to Zidlicky, now in the slot, who fired a shot on goal. The Battalion defender got a stick on the puck as soon as Zidlicky released it. The deflection caused Zidlicky’s shot to knuckle through the air where it bounced off Ethan Procyszyn at the net front, before beating Jack Lisson.
In the following minutes, the Steelheads came inches from extending their lead. First, Luke Misa cut down the wing where he dropped a pass to the slot. Mason Zebeski stepped in the loose puck and hammered it, but the puck sailed wide. Next, Porter Martone intercepted a clearing attempt from Bronson Ride before finding Angus MacDonell in the slot. MacDonell one-touched the puck back to the corner for Carson Rehkopf, but he too missed the net wide.
After Stevie Leskovar was called for kneeing, North Bay tied the game on the power play. The play started when Adrian Manzo hit Parker Vaughan behind the left circle. Vaughan dusted off the Manzo feed before rifling a shot post and in on Jack Ivankovic. The St. Thomas stayed hot against Brampton with his third goal and fourth point against the club this season.
Just eighteen seconds after Vaughan tied the game, the Battalion stole the lead. North Bay forced a turnover at their own blue line allowing Lirim Amidovski to break in on a two-on-one with Ihnat Pazii. Amidovski elected to keep it himself, as he wired it top-shelf past the glove of Ivankovic.
Brampton started the second period in similar fashion to the first when they went to a penalty kill three minutes in. Despite being shorthanded, the Steelheads controlled most of the play recording the only shot of the kill.
Just before the ten-minute mark, the Steelheads nearly found the equalizer. Stevie Leskovar started the play by leveling his man in the corner to allow Porter Martone to go down on a two-on-one with Carson Rehkopf. Martone attempted to find Rehkopf on the backdoor with a saucer pass, but Rehkopf was unable to tap it home.
The Steelheads continued to pressure in the coming minutes. Parker Von Richter kept the puck in the offensive zone when he cycled the puck behind the North Bay net. Kieran Witkowski picked up the puck and carried it from the right side to the left before he dropped for Gabe Chiarot. The sophomore quickly wrapped around the net and jammed the puck on goal, but Lisson burst over to keep it out with the pad.
Boosted by the energy of the Lisson save, the Battalion extended their lead to 3-1. After Ethan Procyszyn cleared the puck, Jacob Therrien broke into the Brampton zone. Andrew Leblanc used his speed to join the rush making it a two-on-one. Therrien sent a saucer pass towards the goal where Leblanc chipped it to the top shelf.
With just over three minutes to play in the second frame, Brampton attempted to start a comeback. Finn Harding slipped behind the North Bay defence where he received a breakaway feed from Carson Rehkopf. Harding faked a shot to the forehand before bringing it to the backhand and chipping a shot on goal. Lisson turned away his bid, but Harding quickly grabbed the rebound and snapped it to Carson Rehkopf out front. Rehkopf fired it on goal, but it deflated off a Battalion stick and flew into the netting.
The Steelhead controlled play through the first seven minutes of the third period outshooting North Bay 6-1, but they were not rewarded for their pressure.
With twelve minutes to go, the Battalion had their first quality chance of the period. Andrew Leblanc broke the Steelheads’ blue line. The veteran faked the Brampton defender by moving into a shooting position before dropping for Jacob Therrien. The shifty winger dangled to the middle before releasing a shot into the chest of Ivankovic.
The Steelheads returned to the North Bay zone with a flurry of chances from Carson Rehkopf, Porter Martone, and Jakub Fibigr, but they came out empty-handed.
With just under three minutes left to play, the Trout cut the deficit to one. Finn Harding did everything but score on the marker. The Toronto native flew into the North Bay zone where he received a pass from Angus MacDonell. Harding faked a shot before cutting the middle and ripping the puck on net. His wrister was blocked, but he followed the rebound and threw the puck to the back door for Angus MacDonell. The Dallas Stars prospect buried the puck into the empty cage to cut the lead in half.
That was as close as it got for Brampton, as with just over a minute left the Battalion scored an empty netter. When a Steelheads’ shot ended up behind the North Bay net, Bronson Ride picked up the puck and wired it off the glass and out. The puck skipped over the stick of Finn Harding at the blueline before sliding all the way down the ice into the empty net. Ride’s 190-footer brought us to a final score of 4-2 Battalion.
The Steelheads are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Oshawa to face the defending Eastern Conference champion Generals. You can watch all Steelheads away games by purchasing CHL TV, accessible on the CHL mobile app, in addition to Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire, and online at watch.chl.ca.
