Battalion numbs Sting 5-1
Jacob LeBlanc and Ihnat Pazii provided one goal and one assist apiece as the North Bay Battalion skated to a 5-1 victory Sunday over the Sarnia Sting, bolstering the Troops’ hold on the final playoff position in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference.
Andrew LeBlanc, Nick Wellenreiter and Parker Vaughan, into an empty net, each scored a goal, while goaltender Mike McIvor posted 33 saves in a solid performance before a crowd of 4,171 at the Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
North Bay moved its won-lost-extended record to 23-28-4 for 50 points, fifth in the Central Division and eighth in the conference, four points ahead of the East Division’s Ottawa 67’s, who fell 5-1 to the visiting Brantford Bulldogs. The Troops have two games in hand on Ottawa.
The Battalion, 5-1-0 in its last six games, played the third game of a four-game road trip, after a 5-1 loss Thursday night to the Saginaw Spirit and a 4-1 win Friday night over the Flint Firebirds.
Daylen Moses scored for Sarnia, while goaltender Evan Maillet gave up four goals on 29 shots.
Sarnia is 19-26-11 for 49 points, fourth in the West Division and seventh in the Western Conference. The Sting rallied to defeat the visiting Windsor Spitfires 6-5 in overtime Friday night to end a seven-game losing streak of 0-5-2.
The Troops, who led 1-0 after 20 minutes, saw Pazii score the eventual winner at 12:27 of the second period, taking a pass from Brayden Turley and one-timing the puck from the right circle. Lirim Amidovski also assisted on Pazii’s fourth goal of the season.
Andrew LeBlanc connected on the first half of an extended power play precipitated by hooking and roughing minors issued to Carson Hall at 13:08. LeBlanc, on the goal line to the right of the net, put the puck toward the front and had it deflect behind Maillet at 13:34. Jacob Therrien and Shamar Moses had assists on LeBlanc’s 11th goal.
Sarnia’s Moses scored shorthanded at 15:09 on a shot from the right circle before Wellenreiter made it 4-1 at 16:56, shoveling a rebound home from the left side after a shot by Jacob LeBlanc. Pazii also assisted on Wellenreiter’s ninth goal.
With the teams skating four a side after coincidental roughing minors to Bronson Ride and Sarnia’s Zach Filak, defenceman Jacob LeBlanc stole the puck from Beckham Edwards in the offensive zone, spun and fired his eighth goal past Maillet to open the scoring at 1:32 of the first period.
Wellenreiter and Hughston Hurt scrapped at 3:46, with each receiving a fighting major, before the teams traded power-play opportunities in the middle part of the frame.
Ryder Carey, who served the Battalion’s penalty for a tripping call at 7:02, drove off the left wing and shot high of an open net in the 13th minute, and Therrien forced a good save from Maillet off a two-on-one rush in the 19th.
The Battalion visits the Soo Greyhounds at 7:07 p.m. Tuesday in a game rescheduled from Nov. 29 because of a snowstorm. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: The teams completed their season series after Sarnia won 3-1 at North Bay on Oct. 17 … Therrien has a seven-game points streak in which he has five goals and three assists for eight points. His four-game goals streak ended … The Battalion was 1-for-3 on the power play. Sarnia went 0-for-4 … Opening lines had Ethan Procyszyn centring left winger Andrew LeBlanc and right winger Therrien, Zach Wigle centring left winger Moses and right winger Vaughan and Pazii pivoting left winger Amidovski and right winger Wellenreiter. Nolan Laird centred left winger Reyth Smith and right winger Carey … Defence pairings saw Ride with Jacob LeBlanc, Turley with Kent Greer and Zach Wilson with Adrian Manzo … The Battalion scratched Aaron Enright, Briir Long and Stepan Chukharev … The Troops boarded the bus for Sault Ste. Marie after the game … Alessandro Di Iorio saw the end of a three-game points streak in which he had one goal and four assists for five points. He was Sarnia’s first-round choice, second overall, in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection from the Vaughan Kings U16s …. Carter Kostuch, whom the Troops sent to Sarnia in acquiring the LeBlanc twins and Sandis Vilmanis on Jan. 6, 2024, suffered a season-ending eye injury in a 6-1 loss Dec. 6 at Ottawa. Kostuch, a 2023 first-rounder, had four goals and eight assists for 12 points in 30 games this season … Nicholas Bet and Matt Boulby were the referees. Photo/article credit - North Bay Battalion
