Kingston wins in OT
Paul Ludwinski’s third goal of the game, at 4:50 of overtime, lifted the Kingston Frontenacs to a 4-3 Ontario Hockey League victory Sunday over the North Bay Battalion.
Anthony Soto scored the other goal for Kingston, which moved its won-lost-extended record to 31-31-4 for 66 points, fourth in the East Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference.
Goaltender Mason Vaccari made 20 saves before 3,375 at the Slush Puppie Centre.
Anthony Romani, Sandis Vilmanis and Owen Van Steensel scored for North Bay, 36-20-9 for 81 points, second in the Central Division, one point behind the Mississauga Steelheads, who defeated the visiting Brantford Bulldogs 7-2.
Goaltender Dom DiVincentiis faced 28 shots as the Troops, third in the conference after wrapping up a two-game road trip that started with a 7-4 win Saturday night over the Peterborough Petes, went to 14-5-1 in their last 20 games.
Romani’s goal was his league-leading 53rd of the season, one more than Carson Rehkopf of the Kitchener Rangers. In 65 games, Romani also has 52 assists and is tied with David Goyette of the Sudbury Wolves atop the OHL scoring race with 105 points.
In overtime, Ludwinski dashed down the left side off a pass from Jacob Battaglia and managed to get the puck past DiVincentiis from in tight. It was Ludwinski’s 23rd goal.
After battling to a 1-1 tie through 20 minutes, each team scored a pair of consecutive goals in the second frame. Ludwinski got Kingston a 2-1 lead with the man advantage at 4:48, splitting the defence and powering to the net to connect on a hard forehand drive.
Soto netted his 23rd goal at 6:14, gaining control of the puck in the slot and going backhand-to-forehand against DiVincentiis.
Vilmanis replied at 10:43, taking a pass from Andrew LeBlanc on the right wing and skating in alone to deke Vaccari. It was Vilmanis’s 35th goal, his 25th in 27 games since a trade from the Sarnia Sting.
Van Steensel tied it shorthanded from Dalyn Wakely at 17:38. Van Steensel broke away from the KIngston blue line for his 40th goal.
Neither team could score in the third period, when the Battalion enjoyed the only two power plays.
Ludwinski cashed a rebound at 1:17 of the first period, and Romani ended a three-way passing play with Wakely and Tnias Mathurin at 6:47.
The Battalion plays host to the Barrie Colts at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Rotary4Kids Night presented by Redpath.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion went 2-1-1 in the season series … Wakely has a nine-game points streak in which he has nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points. In 196 games, he has 87 goals and 94 assists for 181 points, tied with Jeff Bateman for 13th place in franchise history … The Battalion was missing three regulars. Justin Ertel left a 4-2 home-ice win Thursday night over Brantford after taking a high hit, and Jacob Therrien was removed from the Peterborough game with a quad contuson. Ethan Procyszyn served a one-game suspension after accumulating four boarding penalties … Ludwinski led Kingston with six shots on goal, while Wakely, Liam Arnsby, Vilmanis and Brice Cooke had three apiece for North Bay … The Battalion went 0-for-4 on the power play. Kingston was 1-for-2 … Opening lines saw Wakely centring left winger Van Steensel and right winger Romani, Arnsby centring left winger LeBlanc and right winger Vilmanis and Cooke pivoting left winger Ihnat Pazii and right winger Lirim Amidovski. Centre Nola Laird and right winger Stef Forgione had various linemates … Defence pairs were Wyatt Kennedy with Ty Nelson, Mathurin with Paul Christopoulos and Bronson Ride with Jacob LeBlanc. Trevor McDowell also saw action … The Battalion also was without Brayden Turley … The Troops overnighted at Peterborough after the game Saturday … Ryan Elbers and Andrew Willmetts were the refeees.
