North Bay Takes Flint

Ethan Procyszyn scored one goal and added two assists to lead the North Bay Battalion to a 4-1 victory Sunday over the Flint Firebirds in an Ontario Hockey League game.

Jacob Therrien and Owen Van Steensel each provided one goal and one assist, and Lirim Amidovski also scored for North Bay while goaltender Mike McIvor made 21 saves before a crowd of 2,681 as the Troops wore Centurion-themed uniforms.

The Battalion, which lost 4-3 in overtime Thursday night to the visiting Erie Otters in its previous game, has a won-lost-extended record of 12-11-3 for 27 points, fifth in the Central Division.

Evan Konyen scored for Flint, with goaltender Noah Bender making 22 saves, including stopping the Battalion’s one shot on goal in the third period. The Firebirds, who fell 5-4 in overtime Saturday night to the host Sudbury Wolves, are 11-15-2 for 24 points, fourth in the West Division.

Flint acquired Konyen, Matthew Mania, Nolan Collins and the scratched Josh Colosimo from Sudbury on June 4 for two players and nine OHL Priority Selection picks.

“Outside of having to kill off a bunch of penalties there in the third period, really a pretty solid outing right through the lineup,” said Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen. “Everybody brought their game today.

“With opportunity and sticking with the young kids, they’re improving a lot, and now they’re starting to develop some chemistry. They have that confidence, and that’s a dangerous thing, because all of them have done it growing up until now. When you start to realize that you can bring it on a night-to-night basis, that’s encouraging, and then we’re going to have to continue to do it.”

Therrien sparked the Troops to a 3-0 first-period lead with his fifth goal of the season at 4:56. Therrien, at the right lip of the crease, put home the rebound of a left-point lob by Aaron Enright, who got the puck from Procyszyn deep in the corner.

Amidovski struck for what proved to be the winner at 10:39, just 18 seconds after a tripping penalty to Collins expired. Amidovski took a pass from Ryder Carey crossing the blue line and broke past Blake Smith to go in alone on Bender, beating him between the legs. Reyth Smith had the other assist on Amidovski’s eighth goal.

Procyszyn scored 23 seconds into a power play, at 16:25, knocking the puck past Bender’s right leg and the post after Therrien had several whacks at the rubber, which Van Steensel fed across the goalmouth. It was Procyszyn’s team-leading 19th goal.

Bronson Ride and Flint’s Alex Kostov scrapped at 19:08, with Ride getting the takedown. Each received a fighting major.

The teams swapped second-period goals, with Konyen, who mishandled the puck and almost lost it, scoring at 10:55 off a two-on-one rush with Jeremy Martin against Brayden Turley. Jimmy Lombardi had the other assist on Konyen’s sixth goal, which barely slid across the goal line.

Van Steensel completed a nifty tic-tac-toe play with the man advantage at 13:31. Connor Clattenburg was off for roughing after holding Van Steensel on the ice when he tapped the puck home from the right lip on short passes by Shamar Moses to Procyszyn to the Battalion captain.

Clattenburg lay on the ice for some time and was helped, bent over, to the dressing room after a clean open-ice check by penalty killer Wyatt Kennedy at 15:32.

North Bay, which forged a 16-5 edge in first-period shots, was outshot 6-1 in the final frame, which featured eight minor penalties, half of them for roughing.

The Battalion plays host to the Niagara IceDogs at 7 p.m. Thursday on Gen7 Fuel Night.

BATTALION BULLETS: The game, presented by IG Wealth Management, Webster & Associates in support of the Alzheimer’s Society, saw a second-intermission goalie race. The North Bay Symphony Orchestra performed the national anthems … The teams complete the season series Feb. 21 at Flint … In 225 games, Van Steensel has 73 goals and 96 assists for 169 points, tied with Sam Carrick for 19th place in franchise history … Turley, a third-round pick in the 2022 Priority Selection from the Mississauga Senators U16s, played his 100th game … McIvor made a sterling stop against Martin in alone at 17:47 of the middle period after he got past Enright … The Battalion went 2-for-4 on the power play. Flint was 0-for-5 … Opening lines had Procyszyn centring left winger Van Steensel and right winger Therrien, Briir Long centring left winger Moses and right winger Nick Wellenreiter and Carey pivoting left winger Smith and right winger Amidovski. Centre Dylan Richter and left winger Natan Teshome had rotating linemates … Defence pairs were Ride with Kennedy, Enright with Jacob LeBlanc and Turley with Kent Greer. Zach Wilson also saw action … The Battalion was without Declan Gallivan, Ihnat Pazii, Anthony Romani, Nolan Laird, Stepan Chukharev and Andrew LeBlanc … Sam Rivet, who played against Erie, has returned to the junior A Powassan Voodoos … Flint acquired Bender on Oct. 28 from the Oshawa Generals for two Priority Selection picks … Jarrett Burton and Danny Emerson were the referees. Photo/article credit -North Bay Battalion