New Troops power Victory

 Zach Wigle and Shamar Moses, into an empty net, scored for the North Bay Battalion against their onetime Barrie Colts teammates in a 2-0 Ontario Hockey League victory Thursday night.

Goaltender Mike McIvor produced 22 saves for his second shutout of the season for North Bay, which moved its won-lost-extended record to 16-20-3 for 35 points, fifth in the Central Division, before a Memorial Gardens crowd of 2,336.

Parker Vaughan and Wigle played against their former mates for the first time since being acquired by the Battalion with four conditional OHL Priority Selection picks in a blockbuster trade Jan. 5 for Anthony Romani and Owen Van Steensel. Romani played his first game since suffering a broken collarbone in a 3-2 win via shootout Oct. 11 over the host Erie Otters.

The trade reunited the Troops’ top line of last season with the Colts, who received Dalyn Wakely on Oct. 10 for Moses and two picks. The three former Battalion linemates received a commemorative painting by Jack Lockhart recognizing their contributions in North Bay.

Goaltender Sam Hillebrandt allowed one goal on 33 shots for Barrie, which lost a fifth straight game and is 24-14-2 for 50 points, second in the division. The Colts last won Dec. 31 by a 7-4 count over the visiting Oshawa Generals.

“We did a lot of good things,” said Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen. “We obviously had a game plan, going against their high-octane offence, in trying to just smother them a little bit and really try not to give up too much on the danger side, and for the most part I thought we did that. To be as comfortable as we were was nice to see, with it 1-0 for most of the game.”

Oulahen suggested that the Battalion showed developing chemistry.

“The bench was really good tonight. Guys were sacrificing for each other, blocking shots, doing the little things that you really need to do, and then our bench erupts in those moments. Especially when the new additions make the impacts that they made here tonight, it kind of gets that cohesiveness gelled real fast, so tonight was a good step in the direction, but we’ve got to keep going.”

Wigle struck at 2:00 of the second period, driving off the left wing to the crease and backhanding his own rebound past Hillebrandt. Andrew LeBlanc and Adrian Manzo assisted on Wigle’s first goal with the Battalion, his seventh of the season.

North Bay applied sustained pressure through a solid forecheck for much of the rest of the frame and killed twin minors to LeBlanc for boarding and high-sticking issued at 10:24. The likes of Moses, Nolan Laird, Nick Wellenreiter and Bronson Ride did yeoman work shorthanded.

Lirim Amidovski swept a rebound just wide of the right post in tight in the 18th minute.

Barrie coach Marty Williamson pulled Hillebrandt for an extra attacker with 1:31 to play in the third period, and Moses, having gained the centre line, slld the puck into the empty net at 18:37, assisted by Amidovski and Ethan Procyszyn.

The Battalion forged a 14-8 edge in first-period shots and enjoyed the only two power plays. The second came at 17:07, when Romani was whistled for roughing and got tied up with Vaughan, who received a fighting major with Michael Derbidge when he intervened to help Romani.

The Battalion opens a two-game weekend road trip when it plays the Niagara IceDogs at 7 p.m. Saturday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.

BATTALION BULLETS: On Bell Let’s Talk Night, fans received complimentary themed toques … In three previous meetings, the visiting Battalion won 4-1 Sept. 28 before the Colts prevailed 5-2 at home Dec. 28 and 3-1 at North Bay on Dec. 29. The teams next face off Feb. 15 at Barrie … Manzo, who earned his first point with the Troops, played his first home game since the Battalion acquired him and four picks from the Windsor Spitfires for Wyatt Kennedy last week … McIvor robbed Beau Jelsma in close on the left side in the 15th minute of the final period, and Barrie’s Bode Stewart hit the post off the right wing in the 16th … Each team went 0-for-3 on the power play … Opening lines saw Procyszyn centring left winger Moses and right winger Amidovski, Wigle centring left winger Andrew LeBlanc and right winger Vaughan and Ihnat Pazii pivoting left winger Laird and right winger Wellenreiter. Briir Long centred left winger Reyth Smith and right winger Ryder Carey … Defence pairs had Ride with Jacob LeBlanc, Aaron Enright with Manzo and Zach Wilson with Brayden Turley … The Battalion scratched Jacob Therrien, Stepan Chukharev and Kent Greer, who completed a three-game suspension … Amidovski had one goal and one assist and Moses also scored for the Eastern Conference in a 5-4 overtime win Wednesday night in the inaugural Connor McDavid OHL Top Prospects Game at Brantford. LeBlanc also showed well … Ryan Elbers and Damian Figueira were the referees. Photo/article credit - North Bay Battalion