Ottawa turns back Troops
Spencer Bowes scored back-to-back second-period goals to spark the Ottawa 67’s to a 6-1 Ontario Hockey League preseason victory Saturday over a tired North Bay Battalion.
Brock Chitaroni had two goals and one assist and Nolan Jackson and Jasper Kuhta each provided one goal and one assist. Goaltender Ryder Fetterolf contributed 26 saves.
Ottawa completed its preseason schedule with a won-lost-extended record of 1-1-2.
Brandt Harper scored for the Battalion, 3-1-0, in the third period. Starting goaltender Mike McIvor gave up four goals on 27 shots through 40 minutes, and Jack Lisson allowed two goals on 13 shots in the final frame.
North Bay, which defeated the Sarnia Sting 7-2 Friday night at Midland, Ont., had only four fresh Troops on the ice, in McIvor, Lisson, Lirim Amidovski and Aaron Enright, who left the game on a precautionary basis after blocking a shot.
Bowes struck first at 3:38 of the middle period, swiping the puck past McIvor from the right lip of the crease to convert a left-wing feed from Ryan White. Bowes scored again at 6:34, collecting his third goal of the preseason when he redirected the puck home off a Kuhta centring pass.
Defenceman Jackson one-timed the puck from the mid slot for a 3-0 lead at 10:27, assisted by Cooper Foster and Chitaroni, who connected nine seconds later. He fired the puck from the right corner and had it glance off McIvor, who was scrambling to reestablish position after venturing behind the net to play the rubber.
Kuhta scored high over Lisson on the power play at 2:21 of the third period before rearguard Harper broke Fetterolf’s shutout bid at 15:11, snapping the puck from above the left circle on assists to Nolan Laird and Parker Vaughan.
Chitaroni replied 20 seconds later, corralling a rebound and slipping the puck around Lisson on the backhand.
McIvor and Fetterolf traded big stops to keep the first period scoreless. McIvor robbed Foster with a glove save at the back door to the goaltender’s right at 4:09, and Fetterolf countered at 5:57, denying Laird alone at the crease off a rush.
McIvor stoned Kohyn Eshkawkogan in tight during a delayed penalty leading to a holding call against Amidovski at 7:11. Fetterolf covered up against Carter Kunopaski at the crease at 16:14.
The Battalion plays its fifth of six exhibition games when it visits the Sudbury Wolves at 7:05 p.m. Friday.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion returned to North Bay from Midland after the Sarnia game and hit the road to Ottawa early Saturday for the 1 p.m. start … The Battalion went 0-for-1 on the power play. Ottawa was 1-for-3 … Opening lines featured Ihnat Pazii centring left winger Amidovski and right winger Nick Wellenreiter, Cam Warren pivoting left winger Laird and right winger Vaughan and Evgeny Dubrovtsev centring left winger Arseny Pronin and right winger Ryder Carey. Ryder Cali centred left winger Jax Pereira and right winger Shamar Moses … Defence pairings were Jonathan Kapageridis with Harper, Enright with Kent Greer and Kunopaski with Adrian Manzo … The Battalion was without Charlie Larocque, Sam Rivet, Briir Long, Declan Gallivan, Ethan Procyszyn and Bronson Ride … Five Battalion members are set to head to National Hockey League rookie camps early next week. Procyszyn and McIvor will join the Anaheim Ducks, while Amidovski and Moses are ticketed for the Minnesota Wild and Florida Panthers respectively. Ride is to join the Vegas Golden Knights. McIvor and Ride are free-agent invitees, while the others have been drafted …Bowes, a resident of Carleton Place in the Ottawa area, was a 15th-round pick, 293rd overall, in the 2024 OHL Priority Selection.
