Trout Route- Steelheads defeat Battalion 7-2
Brampton, ON – The Steelheads overwhelmed the Battalion to a score of 7-2. For the second straight game, a Steelhead scored a hat-trick, this time coming from captain Porter Martone.
The Steelheads had a great chance early when Porter Martone found a streaking Carson Rehkopf, but Rehkopf had his stick slashed out of his hands by North Bay’s Ethan Procyszyn. The Steelheads got a power-play due to the slash, but they came up empty on the man advantage.
Fresh out of the box Ethan Procyszyn joined the Battalion rush, where he received a pass in his skates from Shamar Moses. The Ducks prospect kicked the puck to his stick before he slipped it five-hole on Jack Ivankovic to give North Bay the 1-0 lead.
The Battalion almost doubled their lead when Lirim Amidovski made a nifty move around the Steelheads defender, but he narrowly missed wide past an out-stretched Ivankovic.
The Steelheads’ top line answered back just five minutes later. Rehkopf forced a turnover before he hit Martone with a cross-crease pass. Martone slid it back across the grain to Luke Misa, who snuck a shot underneath the sprawled Charlie Larocque to tie the game at 1-1. The Flames prospect stays red hot, extending his goal streak to three games in a row.
The Trout top line was hungry for more to start the second period, as Porter Martone gave the Steelheads the lead just under a minute into the frame. Misa took a hit to slide a pass to Martone, who entered the zone. The captain hit Rehkopf before he caught the return feed and dangled Larocque to make it 2-1.
The Battalion found themselves on the power play after a delay of game penalty. North Bay would not let the man advantage go to waste. Shamar Moses found Jacob Therrien, who one-timed it by Ivankovic to tie the game.
After the Steelheads trapped the Battalion in their defensive zone for over a minute and a half, the tired North Bay defenders made a break for the bench. Finn Harding quickly sent a lead feed for Carson Rehkopf, and the Trout’s top line broke in on a 3-on-1 rush. Rehkopf found Martone again who roofed it top shelf to restore the Steelheads lead.
The Steelheads’ offence showed no signs of slowing down, as they doubled the lead just under a minute later. Jack Van Volsen joined Adam Zidlicky on another odd-man rush before he roofed one of his own.
The intermission could not slow down the Steelheads either, as just over a minute into the final frame, Jack Van Volsen banged home his second of the night. Adam Zidlicky and Martin Vaculik added assists on the goal to make it 5-2.
Brampton’s top line was not done yet, as just a couple minutes later, Porter Martone completed the hat-trick. Carson Rehkopf spun a pass from behind the goal to hit Martone on the tape. The captain picked the top corner to extend the Brampton lead to 6-2.
With just under ten minutes left in the game, Troy Patton broke down the wing and rifled one by Larocque for his first goal in the Ontario Hockey League. Patton’s first brought us to our final score of 7-2.
The Steelheads look to keep buzzin’ tomorrow afternoon when they take on the Sarnia Sting. It will be a matchup you will not want to miss, so secure your tickets here.
