Battalions Tied for First
Owen Van Steensel scored two goals and added an assist, leading the North Bay Battalion to a 4-2 victory Thursday night over the Brantford Bulldogs and into a tie for first place in the Ontario Hockey League’s Central Division.
Anthony Romani scored his 50th goal of the season, earning his 100th point, and Sandis Vilmanis had the winning goal for North Bay, which improved its won-lost-extended record to 35-20-8 for 78 points, tied with the Mississauga Steelheads and holding a game in hand.
Goaltender Dom DiVincentiis contributed 36 saves before a Memorial Gardens crowd of 2,842.
The Battalion, 13-5-0 in its last 18 games, is tied for second place in the Eastern Conference with Brantford and Mississauga.
Cole Brown scored both Brantford goals, while goaltender Matteo Drobac made 27 saves. The Bulldogs, 8-3-2 in their last 13 games, are 34-19-10, second in the East Division.
Van Steensel opened the scoring at 12:50 of the first period, seizing the puck near the right-wing boards after Owen Protz mishandled it and beating Drobac with a hard wrister.
Romani netted his milestone marker at 17:02 off a centring pass from Van Steensel on the left wing. Romani applied a backhanded tap to the puck in the crease. He’s the third Battalion player to score 50 in a season, behind Justin Brazeau’s 61 and even with Mike Amadio’s 50.
Liam Arnsby was denied on a break-in in the fourth minute, and Andrew LeBlanc had two chances at the lip of the Brantford crease in the 15th. Ethan Procyszyn set up Ty Nelson for a close-range chance off a two-on-one rush with the Troops shorthanded in the 20th minute.
Vilmanis broke down the right wing around Patrick Thomas, a centre playing defence, and went to the net to tuck the puck behind Drobac just 35 seconds into the middle period. Drawing assists on Vilmanis’s 33rd goal, his 23rd in 25 games since a trade from the Sarnia Sting, were Arnsby and Paul Christopoulos.
Brown scored at 1:49 of the third period, driving off the right wing and slipping the puck under DiVincentiis.
Van Steensel struck again at 10:38 off a right-wing faceoff for a 4-1 lead. Wyatt Kennedy and Dalyn Wakely had assists as Van Steensel netted his 37th goal from the right side.
Procyszyn was whistled for a double minor for high-sticking, and Brown connected for his 15th goal at 14:03 during the first segment.
Trailing by two, Brantford coach Jay McKee pulled Drobac for a sixth skater with 2:54 to play, but the Troops weathered the assault.
The Battalion opens a two-game road trip against the Peterborough Petes at 7:05 p.m. Saturday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion went 3-0-1 against Brantford. The Bulldogs won 5-4 in overtime at home Oct. 27 before the Troops prevailed 4-2 at home on Jan. 4 and 6-4 on the road Feb. 3 … In four games against Brantford, Van Steensel had four goals and three assists for seven points … Wakely has a seven-game points streak in which he has seven goals and eight assists for 15 points. In four games against Brantford, Wakely had two goals and four assists for six points, while Romani matched him in points with four goals and two assists … North Bay was 0-for-2 on the power play. Brantford went 1-for-7 … Opening lines saw Wakely centring left winger Van Steensel and right winger Romani, Arnsby pivoting left winger Justin Ertel and right winger Vilmanis and Procyszyn centring left winger LeBlanc and right winger Jacob Therrien. Left winger Ihnat Pazii and centre Brice Cooke had various linemates … Defence pairings were Kennedy with Nelson, Tnias Mathurin with Christopoulos and Bronson Ride with Jacob LeBlanc. Trevor McDowell also saw action … The Battalion scratched Brayden Turley, Nolan Laird, Stef Forgione and Lirim Amidovski … Among the missing for Brantford were Nick Lardis, Cedricson Okitundu and Ben Bujold … Brantford’s Florian Xhekaj returned from a two-game suspension following a checking-from-behind major, a roughing minor and two game misconducts in a 5-1 loss March 6 at Mississauga … Thomas saw the end of a nine-game points streak.
Photo/article credit- North Bay Battalion
