Battalion takes series lead
Parker Vaughan’s goal at 3:38 of the second period proved the winner as the North Bay Battalion defeated the Peterborough Petes 3-1 Thursday night to take a 3-2 lead in the Ontario Hockey League teams’ best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Lirim Amidovski and Ethan Procyszyn, into an empty net, also scored for North Bay, which got 44 saves from goaltender Jack Lisson in a standout performance.
Braydon McCallum scored late in the third period while goaltender Easton Rye faced 23 shots for the Petes before a crowd of 3,464 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
The Battalion can wrap up the series in Game 6 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens at 7 p.m. Saturday. A seventh game would be played Monday night at Peterborough.
“He was great tonight,” Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen said of Lisson. “Really, the reason we’re getting the big victory is a lot to do with the guy that played in net.
“Now, saying that, I didn’t think we had our best stuff clearly here tonight, but that’s okay sometimes, you know, and I know Jack kept us in it, but we’re able to reset now, get going back home and a huge opportunity for us on Saturday night.”
Amidovski opened the scoring with his second goal of the series at 15:52 of the first period when his shot from the far side of the right circle beat Rye high to the glove side. Evgeny Dubrovtsev earned the only assist.
Peterborough had a 12-6 edge in shots in the frame, with its best chance coming late during the period’s lone power play when Lisson stretched to get his left arm on an Adam Novotny drive. Lisson scrambled to corral a bouncing puck off a Calum Hartnell shot from the blue line in the 11th minute. Carter Kunopaski fired the puck off the crossbar from the left point in the first minute, and Vaughan drilled the disc off the left post in the sixth. Rye denied Dubrovtsev on a net drive in the seventh minute.
The Petes built a 20-9 advantage in shots and a decided edge in territorial play in the second period but came out of it trailing 2-0 after Vaughan seized a turnover and snapped the puck over Rye’s glove from the right circle. The unassisted goal was Vaughan’s second.
Lisson’s toughest stops came in the 14th minute when he slid to the left post to deny McCallum and turned away Carson Cameron’s attempt at the rebound. Rye foiled Procyszyn’s tip of a Kent Greer shot in the 16th minute and got his chest in front of a hard wrister from the right wing by Kaden Pitre in the last minute.
McCallum cut the Battalion lead to one goal at 15:16 of the final period, converting a pass from Brennan Faulkner at the lip of the crease. Aiden Young also assisted.
The Troops thought they had restored their two-goal lead at 18:16 when Rye failed to handle a shot from Procyszyn, who followed up and put the puck into the net off his skate. After a video review, referee Tyson Stewart ruled no goal.
With Rye gone for a sixth attacker, captain Procyszyn eventually finished the scoring into the empty net at 19:46 with his first goal. Pitre, who sent a high pass down the ice, and Bronson Ride drew assists.
Lisson, who faced 13 shots in the period, was tested often before Peterborough scored, turning away good chances for Novotny, Yanis Lutz and Adam Levac. At the other end, Rye, who made eight stops, had to deal with a shot from Dubrovtsev on a two-on-one rush with Ryder Carey in the 11th minute and a backhanded deke by Pitre, who broke in alone in the 12th.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion has an all-time won-lost record of 15-16 in the fifth game of playoff series, including 5-10 on the road. The Troops are 11-5 since relocating to North Bay … In his first OHL playoff series, Lisson has a 3-2 won-lost record, a 1.41 goals-against average, a .959 save percentage and two shutouts. Both losses came in overtime … Pitre topped the Battalion with eight shots on goal. Hartnell led Peterborough with six … North Bay went 0-for-1 on the power play. Peterborough was 0-for-4 … The Troops bused to Peterborough after practice Wednesday … Opening lines included Procyszyn centring left winger Ryder Cali and right winger Nick Wellenreiter, Pitre pivoting left winger Sebastien Gervais and right winger Amidovski and Cam Warren centring left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Vaughan. Centre Dubrovtsev and right winger Carey had various linemates … Defence pairs were Ride with Hayden Barch, Aaron Enright with Greer and Kunopaski with Brandt Harper. Adrian Manzo was a seventh blueliner … The Battalion was without Jonathan Kapageridis, Alexander Karmanov, Arseny Pronin, Shamar Moses and Mike McIvor, who completed an automatic two-game suspension for a match penalty in overtime of a 2-1 home-ice loss Sunday in Game 3 … Cole Vreugdenhil again backed up Lisson … Again among Peterborough’s scratches was Matthew Soto, who has been sidelined since the series opener … Mac Nichol was the other referee.
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