Hounds bite Battalion 6-3
Brady Martin scored two goals and added three assists to power the Soo Greyhounds to a 6-3 victory Tuesday night over the North Bay Battalion in an Ontario Hockey League game with playoff ramifications for both teams.
Marco Mignosa had two goals and one assist, while Spencer Evans and Christopher Brown contributed a goal apiece for the Greyhounds, with goaltender Landon Miller making 24 saves before an announced crowd of 3,597.
Soo, which played the third of seven straight home games, has a won-lost-extended record of 23-32-3 for 49 points, tied for fourth place in the West Division and seventh place in the Western Conference with the Sarnia Sting.
Shamar Moses scored one goal and earned one assist for the Battalion, which got its other goals from Zach Wilson and Ethan Procyszyn. Goaltender Jack Lisson gave up five goals on 28 shots, with Martin scoring an empty-netter.
North Bay is 23-29-4 for 50 points, fifth in the Central Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of the Ottawa 67’s of the East Division and holding a game in hand.
The Battalion, 5-2-0 in its last seven games, completed a four-game road trip, going 2-2-0 on the trek, including a 5-1 win Sunday over Sarnia. The Troops wrapped up a season-high six consecutive away games.
The game was a makeup date after a Nov. 29 meeting, which was to be the first of a back-to-back set at GFL Memorial Gardens, was postponed because of a snowstorm.
Soo, which led 2-1 at the first intermission, took control with three straight goals to start the second period, sparked by Martin’s shorthanded tally 30 seconds into the frame. He broke away on a two-on-one rush, took a look at Mignosa to his left and snapped the puck home from the right circle.
It was the team-leading 29th goal of the season for Mignosa, who’s on a seven-game points run in which he has seven goals and eight assists for 15 points. He has a five-game goals streak in which he has seven goals.
Wilson replied at 14:11, taking a short cross-ice pass from Ryder Carey and wiring the puck past Miller. Nolan Laird also assisted on defenceman Wilson’s second goal.
Procyszyn deflected home a Jacob Therrien shot on the power play at 15:53, with Moses drawing the other assist. It was Procyszyn’s team-leading 30th goal and his 50th career marker.
The Troops failed to pull closer in the third period, with their best chance coming when Zach Wigle collected a wide Moses shot off the end boards only to be denied by a sprawling Miller at 12:49. Martin put his 27th goal into the vacant net at 18:52.
Evans, who forced a good right-pad save by Lisson in the second minute, opened the scoring at 8:20 of the first period when the goaltender blocked a shot from the high slot but had the puck flip over him into the net. Mignosa and Martin assisted on defenceman Evans’s second goal.
Moses tied it at 14:13 after Parker Vaughan intercepted a weak clearing attempt by Evans and fed Moses on the left side. He moved in on Miller, outwaited him and hoisted home a backhander. It was a 12th goal in 49 games since an Oct. 10 trade from the Barrie Colts.
Brown restored the Soo lead 2:11 later, snapping the puck from between the circles on a screened shot off a solo rush.
The Battalion plays host to the Brampton Steelheads at 7 p.m. Thursday on Scotiabank Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
BATTALION BULLETS: The teams completed the season series, with the Battalion having a record of 1-3-0. The Troops posted a 3-2 road win Nov. 30 before the Greyhounds won twice at North Bay, 4-1 on Dec. 18 and 7-4 on Feb. 6 … Therrien has an eight-game points streak in which he has five goals and four assists for nine points … Brayden Turley, who suffered a concussion in a postgame accident Sunday, returned home to Milton, Ont. In his place, Declan Gallivan, a seventh-round pick in the 2023 OHL Priority Selection from the Soo Jr. Greyhounds U18s, made his OHL debut. After scoring four goals and earning 32 assists for 36 points in 39 games last year with the junior A Soo Thunderbirds, he has been limited by illness to three games this season, recording one assist. A strong contingent of Thunderbirds teammates was on hand … The Battalion went 1-for-3 on the power play. Soo was 0-for-2 … Opening lines had Procyszyn centring left winger Andrew LeBlanc and right winger Therrien, Wigle pivoting left winger Moses and right winger Vaughan and Ihnat Pazii centring left winger Lirim Amidovski and right winger Nick Wellenreiter. Laird centred left winger Briir Long and right winger Carey … Defence pairs were Bronson Ride with Jacob LeBlanc, Wilson with Kent Greer and Gallivan with Adrian Manzo … Apart from Turley, the Battalion scratched Aaron Enright, Reyth Smith and Stepan Chukharev … The Troops spent Sunday and Monday nights at Sault Ste. Marie. Photo/article credit -North Bay Battalion
