Brampton blanks Battalion
Parker Von Richter and Gabriel Chiarot, into an empty net, scored and goaltender Brayden Gillespie made 26 saves for the shutout as the Brampton Steelheads defeated the North Bay Battalion 2-0 Friday night in an Ontario Hockey League game.
Gillespie registered his second shutout of the season, both with Brampton, and the fourth of his OHL career after two with the Guelph Storm.
Brampton improved its won-lost-extended record to 30-21-10 for 70 points, second in the Central Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference.
The Steelheads, who went 0-1-1 in their previous two games, were without Porter Martone, their leading points producer, who started serving a suspension.
Goaltender Jack Lisson provided 22 saves for the Battalion before a crowd recorded as 2,617. While the Troops were blanked, the game was a tightly fought affair and nothing like the other whitewashing of the season, a 9-0 shellacking Oct. 4 by the host Kingston Frontenacs.
North Bay, 24-32-5 for 53 points, fifth in the division and eighth in the conference, stayed three points ahead of the idle Ottawa 67’s for the last conference playoff berth.
The Battalion plays host to Ottawa at 2 p.m. Sunday, after the 67’s entertain the Peterborough Petes on Saturday. Ottawa is 21-31-8 for 50 points, fourth in the East Division and ninth in the conference.
Von Richter netted the only goal Brampton needed at 1:13 of the second period off a right-wing faceoff following an icing. Lucas Karmiris won the draw back to Konnor Smith, who fed defenceman Von Richter at the mid blue line for a screened drive and his eighth goal of the season.
Brampton took two minor penalties in the period that produced North Bay power plays, but the Troops failed to capitalize on either. Perhaps their best chance came from Andrew LeBlanc on the left side after a two-on-one rush with Jacob Therrien.
Gillespie stymied Ryder Carey alone in front in the fourth minute of the third period, and the Battalion again failed to take advantage of two power plays before the second was cut short by a holding-the-stick call against Jacob LeBlanc at 10:42.
With Lisson gone for an extra skater and the Steelheads swarming in the North Bay zone, Chiarot spun and put the puck into the empty net at 19:41. His 15th goal was assisted by Angus MacDonell and Stevie Leskovar.
The Battalion held a 12-10 edge in shots in the first period, when each team went on the power play once. With Adrian Manzo off for delay of game after backhanding the puck into the stands, Karmiris posed the biggest threat when he jammed at the puck at the left post, forcing Lisson to cover up at 5:27.
After being tripped entering the Brampton zone without a call, Ihnat Pazii combined with Lirim Amidovski and Nick Wellenreiter to apply sustained pressure in the 17th minute, causing havoc around Gillespie.
BATTALION BULLETS: The teams completed their season series, with the Battalion going 2-2-2. Brampton won 7-2 at home Nov. 1 and 5-4 in overtime at North Bay on Nov. 3 before the Troops posted a 6-5 overtime win Jan. 11 at the CAA Centre and prevailed 4-2 on home ice Feb. 13. The Steelheads won 2-1 in overtime Feb. 27 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens … Pazii topped the Battalion with six shots on goal. Karmiris and Adam Zidlicky led Brampton with four apiece … North Bay went 0-for-5 on the power play. Brampton was 0-for-2 … Opening lines had Ethan Procyszyn centring left winger Andrew LeBlanc and right winger Therrien, Zach Wigle pivoting left winger Shamar Moses and right winger Parker Vaughan and Pazii centring left winger Amidovski and right winger Wellenreiter. Nolan Laird centred left winger Reyth Smith and right winger Carey … Defence pairings saw Bronson Ride with Jacob LeBlanc, Aaron Enright with Kent Greer and Zach Wilson with Manzo … The Battalion was without Brayden Turley, Briir Long and Stepan Chukharev … Wilson marked his 18th birthday … Martone drew a two-game suspension after he received a slashing minor, fighting major and game misconduct for engaging in a second fight after the original altercation in a 4-0 home-ice loss Wednesday to the Oshawa Generals. In 51 games, Martone has 30 goals, a team-high 59 assists and 89 points … Vilmer Alriksson was among the others missing for the Steelheads … Joe Monette and Sean Reid were the referees.
