Battalion doubles 67’s
Ryder Carey scored at 7:04 of the third period to break a tie and help send the North Bay Battalion to a 4-2 Ontario Hockey League victory Sunday over the Ottawa 67’s.
Lirim Amidovski added an insurance goal and assisted on another, and Ethan Procyszyn and Kent Greer also scored for the Battalion, while goaltender Jack Lisson contributed 41 saves in a stellar performance.
North Bay, which earned a second win in completing a three-game eastern road trip, improved its won-lost-extended record to 31-23-3 for 65 points, second in the Central Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference.
The Troops, who clinched at least a tiebreaker game with the Brampton Steelheads for the eighth and last conference playoff spot, remained four points behind the fourth-place Peterborough Petes in the conference after their 4-3 overtime decision over the visiting Brantford Bulldogs.
Frankie Marrelli and Ondrej Ruml scored for the 67’s as goaltender Ryder Fetterolf made 28 saves before 2,825 at TD Place. Ottawa, 24-6-0 at home, is 39-14-3 for 81 points, second in the East Division and third in the conference.
Ottawa, which trailed 2-1 through 40 minutes, tied it at 2:06 of the third period when Ruml wristed the puck from the mid slot on assists by Shaan Kingwell and Brayden Krawczyk, but Carey found the winner 4:58 later.
Carey fired the puck from off the left wing, drove across the goalmouth and steered his own rebound around Fetterolf. Amidovski and Evgeny Dubrovtsev assisted on Carey’s 13th goal of the season.
Getting the puck from a left-wing faceoff win by Ryder Cali, Amidovski shot from the slot and saw the puck strike Fetterolf in the right shoulder and soar into the net. It was Amidovski’s 21st goal.
The Battalion connected for two late first-period goals after the teams traded chances through the frame, in which the Troops forged a 16-8 edge in shots.
Procyszyn opened the scoring with his team-leading 24th goal at 18:35, firing a high drive from the blue line through traffic. Aaron Enright and Dubrovtsev were credited with assists.
Greer doubled the lead with his ninth goal on the power play at 19:51, just 14 seconds after Nic Whitehead went off for high-sticking. Defenceman Greer stepped into the high slot and wired the puck past Fetterolf, with assists to Cali and Nick Wellenreiter.
Fetterolf, who denied Wellenreiter on a solid chance in the fourth minute, made the stop against Nolan Laird driving alone off the left wing in the 16th. Lisson got the right pad on a shot by Connor Bewick on a breakaway in the 17th minute.
Marrelli struck at 16:31 of the middle period after Kingwell gathered the puck from a scrum along the boards and fed it across to the defenceman, who scored from the left circle. Krawczyk had the other assist on Marrelli’s ninth goal.
The Battalion killed a pair of double minors for high-sticking, issued to Amidovski at 5:03 and Jonathan Kapageridis at 10:35. Ottawa had five shots during the first set and three during the second on the way to a 22-3 edge in the period.
The Battalion plays host to the Kingston Frontenacs at 7 p.m. Thursday on Hockey Fights Cancer Night presented by Scotiabank.
BATTALION BULLETS: At Ottawa’s request, the Battalion wore its green-based sweaters and socks rather than the whites that are the OHL protocol for visiting teams starting Jan. 1. The 67’s donned white sweaters designed in a contest … The four-game season series saw the Battalion go 2-2-0. The 67’s won 3-1 at North Bay on Sept. 26 and 6-3 at home Nov. 30 before the Troops prevailed 4-2 on Jan. 8 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens … Wellenreiter led the Battalion with four shots on goal. Marrelli topped Ottawa with nine … The Battalion went 1-for-2 on the power play. Ottawa was 0-for-5 … Opening lines included Procyszyn centring left winger Kaden Pitre and right winger Wellenreiter, Cali pivoting left winger Sebastien Gervais and right winger Amidovski and Cam Warren centring left winger Laird and right winger Parker Vaughan. Centre Dubrovtsev and right winger Carey had various linemates … Defence pairings had Bronson Ride with Brandt Harper, Enright with Hayden Barch and Adrian Manzo with Greer. Kapageridis was a seventh rearguard … The Battalion was without Mike McIvor, Alexander Karmanov, Carter Kunopaski, Arseny Pronin and Shamar Moses … Gavin Zepp again backed up Lisson … The Troops, who overnighted at Peterborough on Thursday after a 5-4 win, bused to Ottawa after a 5-1 loss Friday night at Kingston … Among the missing for the 67’s were Kaleb Dietsch and Brock Chitaroni … Mike Cairns and T.J. Hunter were the referees.
