Oulahen: ‘I was going for it’
Even with the North Bay Battalion one win away from capturing its Ontario Hockey League second-round playoff series against the Sudbury Wolves, the focus Wednesday was fixed firmly on a stirring 6-5 comeback victory in overtime in the third game.
Dalyn Wakely scored his second goal of the game at 12:17 of overtime Tuesday night to give the visiting Battalion a lead of 3-0 in games in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal. It came after the Troops trailed 5-2 after two periods and 5-3 with less than four minutes left in the third.
“That was a wild ending to that game, and luckily we came out on the good side of it,” said coach Ryan Oulahen, whose charges visit Sudbury at 7:05 p.m. Thursday with a chance to end the series.
North Bay led 2-0 early on goals by Ihnat Pazii and Wakely before Sudbury answered with three first-period tallies, including two by Nathan Villeneuve, and added two more in the second frame, when the Battalion was outshot 12-0.
“I wasn’t too concerned about the result,” said Oulahen. “I just wanted our team to get back to playing the game, so we’d get back to it and start doing some good things, and we did that. Our third and our overtime were very, very good.”
Justin Ertel provided a spark, scoring on a shorthanded breakaway at 5:56 of the third period.
The Battalion went on the power play for the first time when Donovan McCoy was assessed a holding penalty at 15:09, and it became a two-man advantage when Villeneuve was sent off for tripping 35 seconds later. Oulahen promptly called goaltender Mike McIvor to the bench, with the Troops skating six against three.
“It’s a quick read; it’s a quick hunch,” said Oulahen. “I think some other people were surprised, maybe, but I was going for it.”
Owen Van Steensel capitalized at 16:40, making it 5-4 with the Battalion still on the power play and skating six on four. Ethan Procyszyn tied it 5-5 with a redirection in front at 17:09.
North Bay, which held a 15-8 edge in third-period shots, outshot Sudbury 12-11 in overtime. The Wolves forged a game-long advantage of 46-34.
“I just love the group, the resiliency in this group,” said Oulahen. “It is almost like a superpower with these guys, the coachability and the belief that they have in themselves. I think that’s because they’ve been together for so long. But, in saying that, we’ve learned a lot from that game, because you got to see what a talented team the Sudbury Wolves can be.”
In eight playoff games, Wakely has a league-leading nine goals and four assists for 13 points, tied with Van Steensel and Beckett Sennecke of the Oshawa Generals for third place in the scoring parade. Van Steensel has four goals and nine assists in eight games.
Ertel and Sandis Vilmanis are in a four-way tie for sixth place among scoring leaders, Ertel with six goals and as many assists for 12 points and Vilmanis with two goals and 10 assists, both in eight games. Ertel’s six goals are in a three-way tie for second place, while Vilmanis’s assists total is second to the 14 of Filip Mesar of the Kitchener Rangers.
Rookie McIvor, with a 6-1 won-lost record since relieving the injured Dom DiVincentiis in Game 2 of a five-game ouster of the Kingston Frontenacs in a conference quarterfinal, is third in postseason wins behind the seven posted by Michael Simpson of the London Knights and Oshawa’s Jacob Oster.
McIvor ranks fifth in the league with a 2.61 goals-against average and fourth with a .910 save percentage.
“We knew he was going to be ready if his time came,” noted Oulahen. “Again, it’s the confidence that I talk about. Now you’re in a rhythm. Now you’ve got that confidence going. I don’t know much about goaltending, but he’s obviously feeling good about himself and, again, we have that confidence in him.”
The blue line pair of Paul Christopoulos and Tnias Mathurin rank first and second respectively in plus-minus, Christopoulos at plus-14 and Mathurin at plus-13.
Game 4 can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700. A fifth game, if necessary, would be played at Memorial Gardens on Saturday night.
