Battalion outlasts London
Nick Wellenreiter and Kaden Pitre scored in a two-round shootout to lift the North Bay Battalion to a 3-2 victory Friday night over the London Knights, ending the Troops’ losing skid at three games.
Pitre had one goal and one assist earlier in the game, while Sebastien Gervais scored late to force overtime. Goaltender Jack Lisson contributed 22 saves through the extra session as the Battalion played the second game of a three-game Ontario Hockey League road trip.
North Bay, beaten 4-3 Thursday night by the Windsor Spitfires after two setbacks last weekend to the host Soo Greyhounds, has a won-lost-extended record of 25-20-2 for 52 points, second in the Central Division. The Battalion is two points ahead of the Niagara IceDogs, who fell 6-4 to the host Oshawa Generals.
The Troops complete a run of five road games with a visit to Niagara at 4 p.m. Sunday.
Jesse Nurmi and Henry Brzustewicz scored for the Knights, and goaltender Aleksei Medvedev made 35 saves through overtime before a Canada Life Place crowd of 9,061, the largest to see the Troops play this season.
London is 27-16-4 for 58 points, second in the Midwest Division.
With the hosts going first in the shootout, Lisson denied Braidy Wassilyn and Ryan Brown. Wellenreiter deked Medvedev and scored on a backhander, and Pitre moved in slowly before snapping the puck home to secure the win, North Bay’s second in two games this season against London.
The Battalion thoroughly dominated the overtime frame, forging a 4-1 edge in shots on goal.
With Lisson gone for a sixth attacker, Gervais netted his 16th goal of the season at 18:29 of the third period, converting a rebound at the right side. Ethan Procyszyn and Pitre assisted on Gervais’s fourth goal in 10 games since a Jan. 5 trade from the Saginaw Spirit.
Pitre opened the scoring at 7:09 of the second period, beating Medvedev to the far side with a wrister from deep in the right circle after taking a pass at the blue line from Wellenreiter. It was Pitre’s 13th goal and his eighth in 19 games since a Nov. 21 trade from the Flint Firebirds.
Nurmi replied 40 seconds later when he broke in alone and hoisted a backhander behind Lisson. Linus Funck had the sole assist on Nurmi’s fifth goal.
Brzustewicz connected on a screened shot from the right point at 17:35, with Brown and Caleb Mitchell drawing assists on the defenceman’s 15th goal.
Brown appeared to have scored at 11:50, but the Battalion challenged for offside on the zone entry, and the play was overturned.
The teams skated through a scoreless first period with nine shots on goal apiece, although Lisson handled the tougher chances.
The Battalion, which had a would-be goal at 3:42 negated upon video review as resulting from a long offside pass, incurred the only penalty, to Wellenreiter for high-sticking at 15:24. Penalty killer Parker Vaughan was noteworthy, advancing the puck into the London zone before firing it back behind the Troops’ goal line.
The game at Niagara, one of three making up YourTV Hockey Day in the OHL, can be seen live in North Bay on Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion defeated the visiting Knights 5-2 on Nov. 20 in the teams’ other meeting. The only other season in franchise history in which the Battalion has swept London is 2022-23 … The Troops completed their road schedule against Western Conference opponents, going 3-7-1 … Gervais topped the Troops with five shots on goal. Wassilyn led London with five … The Battalion went 7-5-0 in January, including a season-high five-game winning streak Jan. 4-16 … Each team was 0-for-2 on the power play … Opening lines featured Procyszyn centring left winger Pitre and right winger Wellenreiter, Ryder Cali pivoting left winger Gervais and right winger Lirim Amidovski and Cam Warren centring left winger Shamar Moses and right winger Vaughan. Evgeny Dubrovtsev skated between left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Ryder Carey … Defence pairings had Bronson Ride with Brandt Harper, Aaron Enright with Hayden Barch and Carter Kunopaski with Kent Greer … The Battalion was without Mike McIvor, Adrian Manzo, Jonathan Kapageridis, Alexander Karmanov and Arseny Pronin … London’s Jaxon Cover is a native of the Cayman Islands, where former Battalion members Andrew and Jacob LeBlanc were born and where Cali lived as a youngster after being born in Switzerland. Cover first learned to skate in roller hockey … All 20 teams saw action Friday night … Mitchell Hardy and Ryan Harrison were the referees.
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