Trout, Troops take it to OT
Porter Martone scored at 4:36 of overtime to lift the Brampton Steelheads to a 2-1 victory over the North Bay Battalion in a fiercely contested Ontario Hockey League game Thursday night.
Gabriel Chiarot had the other goal and goaltender Jack Ivankovic provided 38 saves for Brampton, which moved its won-lost-extended record to 28-20-9 for 65 points, second in the Central Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference. The Steelheads are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.
Lirim Amidovski scored shorthanded for the Battalion, while goaltender Charlie Larocque, in his 16th appearance of the season and his first since a 5-2 loss Dec. 31 to the visiting Kitchener Rangers, made 33 saves in a sterling performance before 2,311 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
North Bay is 23-29-5 for 51 points, fifth in the division and eighth in the conference, five points ahead of the East Division’s Ottawa 67’s before a Friday night visit to TD Place. Each team has 11 games left to play.
The Battalion, at home after playing a season-high six straight road games, is 5-2-1 in its last eight outings.
“That team’s dangerous over there,” Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen said of the Steelheads.
“I mean, they’ve got five World Junior players over there. They’re as good as anybody that I’ve seen, so the fact that we were able to eliminate a lot of the stuff that they wanted to accomplish, I’m pretty happy. You know, as happy as you can be without getting the ultimate win.”
Oulahen cited the point the Troops garnered as especially welcome: “Every point is so huge, it really is.”
The coach had praise for Larocque, who was recalled from the junior A Carleton Place Canadians for the game.
“We all kind of had a feeling that he was going to do that here tonight. He’s had a really good development path this last little bit. He’s played a lot of hockey. He’s had some good starts and he was ready for this one.”
Martone, open on the left side, put the puck into a gaping cage off a backhanded cross-crease feed from Lucas Karmiris, who earned his second assist. It was Martone’s 30th goal of the season and came on Brampton’s only shot of the extra session after the Troops fired three at Ivankovic while dominating play.
The Battalion, which trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes, tied it at 13:13 of the second period on Amidovski’s 15th goal with Ryder Carey serving a hooking penalty. Kent Greer fired the puck up to Amidovski at centre ice, and he broke down the left side to beat Ivankovic from the circle.
Larocque, who foiled Carson Rehkopf at 3:27 when he broke in alone, gloved a Martone threat from the mid slot at 19:16.
The Battalion, which outshot the visitors 14-6 in the third period, failed to score during a two-man advantage lasting 58 seconds early in the frame, then came close to taking a lead when Jacob Therrien went in alone with the Troops skating five against four in the third minute. Larocque stoned Rehkopf open at the right lip of the crease in the 11th minute.
Chiarot scored at 17:44 of the first period, taking a pass from Spencer Sova and moving in from the blue line for a 14th goal. Karmiris had the other assist.
After Mason Zebeski was whistled for hooking at 4:52, Larocque robbed penalty killer Adam Zidlicky on a two-man break off a Greer turnover. Larocque slid to his left to deny Zidlicky at the post. At 10:16, Ivankovic made perhaps his best save of the frame, snagging an Amidovski drive from the mid slot.
The Ottawa game can be seen live in North Bay at 7 p.m. on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: The early count on a bucket pass showed $11,390 collected for the Canadian Cancer Society on Scotiabank Hockey Fights Cancer Night … After five of six meetings, the Battalion is 2-1-2. Brampton won 7-2 at home Nov. 1 and 5-4 in overtime at North Bay on Nov. 3 before the Troops prevailed 6-5 in overtime Jan. 11 at the CAA Centre and 4-2 at home Feb. 13 … Therrien saw the end of an eight-game points streak in which he had five goals and four assists for nine points … Jack Lisson backed up Larocque, as Mike McIvor got the night off … With Declan Gallivan, who made his OHL debut in a 6-3 loss Tuesday night to the Soo Greyhounds, having rejoined the junior A Soo Thunderbirds, Jonathan Kapageridis was recalled from the junior A Cobourg Cougars. Acquired in a Jan. 9 trade with the Sarnia Sting, he played his second game with the Troops … The Battalion 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 centring left winger Shamar Moses and right winger Parker Vaughan and Ihnat Pazii pivoting left winger Amidovski and right winger Nick Wellenreiter. Nolan Laird centred left winger Stepan Chukharev and right winger Carey … Defence pairs saw Bronson Ride with Jacob LeBlanc, Zach Wilson with Greer and Kapageridis with Adrian Manzo … The Battalion also was without Aaron Enright, Brayden Turley, Briir Long and Reyth Smith.
