Brantford blanks Battalion
Nick Lardis scored two goals, including an empty-netter, and goaltender Ryerson Leenders made 21 saves for his first Ontario Hockey League postseason shutout as the Brantford Bulldogs defeated the North Bay Battalion 3-0 Sunday night for a two-game lead in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal.
Jake O’Brien had the other goal for the Bulldogs, the East Division champions who finished first in the conference, before another sellout crowd of 3,207 at the Brantford Civic Centre.
Goaltender Mike McIvor stopped 25 of 27 shots for eighth-place North Bay, which lost the opener 6-3 Friday night in a similarly chippy game.
The best-of-seven series now shifts to Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens for Games 3 and 4, with the third at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The teams battled to a scoreless tie to the final minute of the second period, when Kent Greer went off for delay of game at 19:14 and Ethan Procyszyn was penalized for closing his hand on the puck in throwing it out of the zone at 20:00, giving Brantford a two-man advantage for 1::15 to start the third frame.
McIvor stoned Lardis with a glove save at 1:13, and the Battalion killed off the two-man portion before O’Brien scored the only goal the Bulldogs would need 15 seconds later, snapping the puck from above the left hash marks. Tomas Hamara and Cole Brown assisted on O’Brien’s second goal of the series.
Lardis was credited with a goal at 14:45 when his shot from behind the goal line to McIvor’s left deflected into the net. Brown and Patrick Thomas drew assists.
With McIvor pulled for a sixth skater at 16:25 after a Brantford icing, Lardis drilled the disc from his own zone into the vacant cage for his third goal of the playoffs at 16:56, assisted by Thomas Budnick.
The first period was characterized by the same hostility evidenced Friday night, with Bronson Ride and Lardis getting their sticks up in an early collision, with Lardis earnestly trying to sell a call. Hamara then jabbed Jacob Therrien at 11:58 without a penalty.
Budnick was set to receive a penalty for high-sticking Procyszyn at 12:10 before Budnick and Andrew LeBlanc engaged in roughing at the whistle, each drawing a minor.
After a lengthy video review, Procyszyn was handed a head-checking minor at 12:58 for contact with Lucas Moore, and the Battalion’s Brayden Turley went off for crosschecking at 16:55.
Shamar Moses had his stick break on a left-circle shot off a setup by Zach Wigle in the seventh minute, and McIvor snagged an O’Brien threat in tight at 10:18.
Therrien drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for diving at 1:29 of the second period, and McIvor stoned Brown in the slot on the ensuing power play.
O’Brien hit the right post on a solid chance in the 10th minute before Lirim Amidovski chipped the puck over the net on a feed from Procyszyn with the teams skating four a side in the 18th minute.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion has a won-lost record of 106-116 in 222 postseason games, including 48-64 on the road. The Troops are 60-50 in 110 games since relocation to North Bay in 2013, with a road record of 25-30 … The Battalion is 17-26 all-time in the second game of a playoff series, including 5-11 on the road …O’Brien hit the right post on a dangerous chance in the 10th minute of the second period, and McIvor gloved a Lardis shot that was labeled for the left side of the net on the power play at 19:05 … LeBlanc led the Troops with four shots on goal. Lardis, who paced the Bulldogs with six, has two empty-net tallies in his total … The Battalion went 0-for-2 on the power play. Brantford 1-for-6 … Opening lines saw Procyszyn centring left winger Andrew LeBlanc and right winger Therrien, Wigle pivoting left winger Moses and right winger Parker Vaughan and Ihnat Pazii centring left winger Amidovski and right winger Nick Wellenreiter. Nolan Laird skated between left winger Briir Long and right winger Ryder Carey … Defence pairings were Ride with Jacob LeBlanc, Turley with Greer and Zach Wilson with Adrian Manzo … The Battalion was without Aaron Enright, Reyth Smith and Stepan Chukharev … Jack Lisson, who backed up McIvor, turns 19 on Monday, while Enright was 18 on Friday … Brantford was missing Niko Krmpotic, Braeden O’Keefe, Daniel Chen and Ben Radley… Connor Mallon and Joe Monette were the referees.
