Brantford wins in second OT

Ben Danford scored at 14:33 of the second overtime period to give the Brantford Bulldogs a 3-2 Ontario Hockey League victory Sunday over the North Bay Battalion and a commanding 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Charlie Paquette and Adam Benak also scored for first-place Brantford, which got two assists from Jake O’Brien and 24 saves from goaltender Ryerson Leenders.

Cam Warren and Ethan Procyszyn scored for fifth-place North Bay, while Ryder Cali contributed two assists. Goaltender Mike McIvor, making his second start of the postseason, faced 58 shots before 3,205 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.

The Bulldogs, who won the first two games 8-1 and 4-1 at home, will look to wrap up the series in Game 4 on the same ice at 7 p.m. Tuesday, while the Battalion will attempt to force a fifth game Thursday night at Brantford.

“I’m just so proud of the compete, the second effort, the willingness to sacrifice the body right now,” said Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen. “There’s no doubt we’re making strides in the series as it goes on. Really loved our start today. I thought we got after it really good.

“They’re going to have the puck in our zone, so we’ve accepted that and then tried to figure out ways to alleviate their most dangerous chances, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that, trying to keep it to the outside and then win the second puck.

“They’re leaving it all out there. I’m really looking forward to Tuesday now. Our backs are against the wall for the first time in the playoffs, so it’ll be really good to see what we’ve got on Tuesday.”

The visitors had a number of chances in the second overtime period before defenceman Danford found the winner, his first goal of the playoffs, taking a cross-ice pass from O’Brien and snapping a low wrister from the right point that beat the screened McIvor to the stick side.

Brantford held a 10-9 edge in shots in the first overtime frame, when the Troops applied early pressure before the Bulldogs responded. McIvor turned away Marek Vanacker at the lip of the crease in the fourth minute and took a hard shot from Caleb Malhotra off the mask in the 14th. Zackary Sandhu charged to the net and just missed converting an O’Brien pass at the right post in the 17th. Leenders foiled an early Cali drive, found an Evgeny Dubrovtsev slot shot through traffic in the fifth and denied a Procyszyn wraparound attempt in the 12th.

After a 1-1 tie at the second intermission, Brantford spent much of the first half of the third period in Battalion territory, but a quick breakout led to the Troops taking a 2-1 lead when Procyszyn beat Leenders low to the glove side at 9:26 with a wrister from the left circle off a two-on-one rush with Nick Wellenreiter. Cali and Aaron Enright assisted on Procyszyn’s fourth goal.

The Battalion looked to have extended its lead at 11:26 when Wellenreiter raced around Camron Hankai and slipped the puck past Leenders’s left pad. Referee Damian Figueira, who worked with Mike Cairns, signaled a goal on the ice but, after a video review, it was disallowed for goaltender interference.

“I do feel, three or four feet out, he does get ridden in and pushed in, and his momentum takes him into the contact with the goaltender,” Oulahen said of Wellenreiter. “I do agree that his skate makes contact with the pad, which made the puck go in, but obviously we’re on the wrong side of it.”

Leenders was on the bench for a sixth skater when the Bulldogs tied the game at 18:18 as Benak’s shot from the right circle eluded a sliding McIvor.

Warren gave the Battalion its first lead of the series 34 seconds into the first period, finishing off a two-on-one rush with Parker Vaughan by driving to the net and beating Leenders between the pads. Cali had the other assist on Warren’s fourth goal.

The Bulldogs had a 10-9 edge in shots, with their best chance coming in the 11th minute when Sandhu emerged from the penalty box and broke in alone on McIvor, who got his right pad on Sandhu’s forehand deke attempt. Leenders foiled Arseny Pronin as he drove to the net off the right wing in the second minute and found an Enright shot through traffic in the ninth.

Paquette tied it on the power play at 2:28 of the second period when he swept the puck past McIvor’s glove from the left circle.

The Bulldogs, who outshot the hosts 15-2 in each of the second and third periods, enjoyed a considerable edge in territorial play. McIvor was sharp on good chances by Paquette, Vanacker, Malhotra, Parker Holmes and Cooper Dennis. The Battalion, which was issued three minor penalties, didn’t have a shot for the final 13:59 of the frame.

BATTALION BULLETS: Onetime Battalion member Riley Bruce waved the 7th Man flag on the ice before the game, accompanied by Calvin Gomes … The Battalion has an all-time won-lost record of 17-28 in the third game of playoff series, including 6-12 at home. The Troops are 8-15 since relocation to North Bay for the 2013-14 season … McIvor started for the first time since Game 3 of a first-round series victory over the Peterborough Petes, when he was issued a match penalty in overtime of a 2-1 home-ice loss which went on Jack Lisson’s record. McIvor’s only other appearance in the current playoffs came in relief in the opener at Brantford … North Bay went 0-for-2 on the power play. Brantford was 1-for-3 … Opening line combinations featured Procyszyn centring left winger Sebastien Gervais and right winger Wellenreiter, Warren pivoting left winger Cali and right winger Vaughan and Dubrovtsev centring left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Lirim Amidovski. Left winger Pronin and right winger Ryder Carey had rotating linemates … Defence pairings saw Enright with Hayden Barch, Bronson Ride with Kent Greer and Carter Kunopaski with Brandt Harper. Adrian Manzo also saw action … The Battalion was without Jonathan Kapageridis, Alexander Karmanov, Kaden Pitre and Shamar Moses, who was sick … Among the scratches for Brantford were Dylan Tsherna, Philip Govedaris and Vladimir Dravecky … Vanacker celebrated his 20th birthday.