Battalion grabs OT point
Owen Van Steensel scored at 4:00 of overtime to lift the Barrie Colts to a 5-4 victory over the North Bay Battalion in a heart-pounding Ontario Hockey League game Sunday that kept the Troops two points ahead of the Ottawa 67’s in their battle for a playoff berth.
Dalyn Wakely scored two goals and earned two assists for the Colts, while Jaiden Newton and Kashawn Aitcheson each had a goal and Van Steensel added two assists.
Goaltender Ben Hrebik made 28 saves for Barrie, which moved its won-lost-extended record to 41-21-4 for 86 points. The Colts, who have clinched the Central Division title, played a third game in three days.
Jacob LeBlanc scored one goal and earned two assists and Jacob Therrien had one goal and one assist for the Battalion, which got its other goals from Andrew LeBlanc and Ihnat Pazii. Goaltender Mike McIvor faced 44 shots as the Troops wore their black Centurion uniforms before 3,062 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
North Bay is 25-34-6 for 56 points, fifth in the division and eighth in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa, which lost 3-2 in overtime to the visiting Kingston Frontenacs, is 22-33-10 for 54 points, fourth in the East Division.
Both North Bay and Ottawa have three games left, the Troops having two at home and the 67’s set to play entirely on the road. Any combination of points earned by the Battalion or lost by Ottawa totaling five clinches the eighth and last postseason spot for North Bay clear of a tiebreaker playoff game.
“That point is massive and super crucial right now, so we’re going to look at the positives and already geared up for next weekend,” said Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen.
The Battalion dominated play early in overtime, but Van Steensel took a pass from Wakely and fought off Bronson Ride to get to the left of the goalmouth and put the puck past McIvor. Van Steensel collected his 22nd goal of the season and his ninth since a trade from the Troops.
Pazii tied it 3-3 at 13:57 of the third period, taking a cross-zone pass from Jacob LeBlanc, cradling the puck and ripping it past Hrebik from the right circle. Nick Wellenreiter also assisted on Pazii’s eighth goal.
Wakely sneaked the puck behind McIvor from the left side at 18:30 to restore Barrie’s lead, but Therrien got the equalizer, his 17th goal, with the Troops skating six on five at 19:20. Ethan Procyszyn centred the disc to Therrien, who outwaited Hrebik and put it over the sprawling goaltender from the slot.
“What a great play by Therrien there, patience and made it happen,” noted Oulahen. “That was absolutely huge: biggest goal of the year.”
Barrie, which trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes, killed a two-man disadvantage lasting 2:00 and erupted for three goals in a span of 2:58 in the second period.
After killing tripping and slashing penalties at 9:00 to Carter Lowe and Gabriel Eliasson respectively, the Colts tied it on Wakely’s goal at 11:39. Van Steensel stripped Adrian Manzo of the puck in the neutral zone and fed it in front to Wakely for the tip.
Newton netted his third goal at 13:46 after Emil Hemming intercepted a Zach Wilson pass, and Wakely won a faceoff in the left circle and drew the puck back to defenceman Aitcheson, who drilled it home at 14:37 for his 25th goal.
The Troops replied on the power play at 19:42, just 10 seconds after Aitcheson went off for slashing. Therrien put the puck across the zone to Andrew LeBlanc on the right side of the crease for his 12th goal.
Jacob LeBlanc struck at 13:37 of the first period off a three-on-one rush against Grayson Tiller. LeBlanc drilled the puck past Hrebik from the right circle, with Ryder Carey receiving the lone assist on the defenceman’s 10th goal.
North Bay plays host to the Oshawa Generals at 7 p.m. Thursday on Cascades Casino Night when March Mania presents Battalion Awards Night.
BATTALION BULLETS: On CAA North & East Ontario Day, March Mania presented St. Patrick’s Day Bash. Caitlin Noon of CAA took part in the pregame faceoff … The season series saw the Battalion go 3-2-1. The visiting Troops won 4-1 on Sept. 28 before the Colts swept a home-and-home series, winning 5-2 on Dec. 28 at Barrie and 3-1 on Dec. 29 at North Bay. The Battalion won 2-0 at home Jan. 16 and prevailed 5-4 in a shootout Feb. 15 at the Sadlon Arena … Former Battalion linemates Wakely, Van Steensel and Anthony Romani were in the starting lineup for Barrie in their last regular-season game as a trio at North Bay. Wakely joined the Colts in an Oct. 10 trade without having played for the Troops this season, while Van Steensel and Romani were dealt Jan. 5, five days before the deadline … The Battalion went 1-for-5 on the power play. Barrie was 0-for-2 … Opening lines had Procyszyn centring left winger Andrew LeBlanc and right winger Therrien, Zach Wigle pivoting left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Parker Vaughan and Pazii centring left winger Lirim Amidovski and right winger Wellenreiter. Carey centred left winger Briir Long and right winger Shamar Moses … Defence pairings were Ride with Jacob LeBlanc, Brayden Turley with Kent Greer and Wilson with Manzo … The Battalion scratched Aaron Enright, Reyth Smith and Stepan Chukharev … Van Steensel has a five-game points streak in which he has four goals and as many assists for eight points … James Kraft and Aaron Neely were the referees.
