Roobroeck leads Niagara Win

Ryan Roobroeck scored three goals and added two assists to power the Niagara IceDogs to a 7-3 Ontario Hockey League victory Thursday night over the North Bay Battalion.

Andrei Loshko had two goals, including an empty-netter, and Kevin He and Jack Brauti each provided one for Niagara, which erupted for five consecutive second-period goals in moving its won-lost-extended record to 18-9-2 for 38 points, second in the Central Division.

Goaltender Owen Flores, playing in an 18th straight game, contributed 54 saves.

Roobroeck scored a true hat trick in a span of 5:12, helping push his totals to a team-leading 23 goals and 20 assists for 43 points in 29 games. It was his second three-goal game of the season and his third in the OHL, with two coming against the Battalion.

Nolan Laird had two goals and Ethan Procyszyn one for North Bay, which dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen and saw its record go to 12-12-3 for 27 points, fifth in the division.

Starting goaltender Charlie Larocque gave up six goals on 25 shots before being relieved by Mike McIvor, who stopped all 11 shots he faced before a crowd of 2,578.

After a 1-1 tie at the first intermission, defenceman Brauti ignited Niagara’s middle-period surge with his fourth goal of the season at 4:05, pinching from the point to beat Larocque from the left circle with the teams skating four a side.

Loshko struck on the power play at 4:35, just 13 seconds after Procyszyn went off for holding, reducing the Troops to three skaters, and Roobroeck connected for what proved to be the winner at 8:27 after a turnover by Kent Greer and the deflection off a defender of an attempted pass by Ethan Czata.

Roobroeck scored with the man advantage at 10:43, taking a pass across the goalmouth from Braidy Wassilyn, before striking shorthanded at 13:39. Roobroeck put a breakaway backhander behind Larocque, and the goaltender left the game 1:29 later.

Laird replied with his fifth goal at 15:39, just 31 seconds after McIvor came on, snapping the puck past Flores from the mid slot off a pass from Stepan Chukharev, and Procyszyn scored at 17:50, batting home a high pass from Jacob Therrien while driving up the middle. Owen Van Steensel also assisted on Procyszyn’s team-leading 20th goal.

Loshko completed the scoring into the empty net at 14:57 of the third stanza for his 15th goal.

Laird opened the scoring at 3:21 of the first period, racing down the right wing, dishing the puck to Chukharev and taking a return pass before whipping the rubber home from the circle. Laird and Chukharev were back in the lineup after losing multiple games to injury.

He tied it at 4:53 when Andrew Wycisk, who gathered the puck on the right-wing boards, fed the disc to He wide open in the slot for his 21st goal.

Flores made two big glove saves in the frame, against Procyszyn on a breakaway at 1:11 and Lirim Amidovski driving up the slot at the nine-minute mark. Therrien and Procyszyn combined for a solid chance in the 19th minute, but Procyszyn slid the puck under the arm of the sprawling Flores and through the crease.

The Battalion visits the Oshawa Generals at 7:05 p.m. Friday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.

BATTALION BULLETS: On Gen7 Fuel Night, the first 1,000 fans to enter Memorial Gardens received a complimentary toque. The winner of a rapid-fire shootout earned a prize pack … Niagara posted a 7-5 home-ice win Oct. 12 in the teams’ previous meeting. They face off Jan. 18 at St. Catharines in the third of six games … In 226 games, Van Steensel has 73 goals and 97 assists for 170 points, tied with Kyle Jackson for 18th place in franchise history … The Battalion set season highs of 57 shots in a game and 23 in a period, in the first … Reyth Smith had a team-high seven shots for North Bay, while Roobroeck had nine for Niagara … The Battalion went 0-for-6 on the power play. Niagara was 2-for-4 … Opening lines saw Procyszyn centring left winger Van Steensel and right winger Therrien, Briir Long pivoting left winger Shamar Moses and right winger Nick Wellenreiter and Ryder Carey centring left winger Smith and right winger Amidovski. Centre Laird and left winger Chukharev had various linemates … Defence pairs had Bronson Ride with Wyatt Kennedy, Aaron Enright with Jacob LeBlanc and Brayden Turley with Greer. Zach Wilson also saw action … The Battalion was without Declan Gallivan, Dylan Richter, Ihnat Pazii, Anthony Romani, Natan Teshome and Andrew LeBlanc … Charlie Robertson backed up Flores … Niagara traded Masen Wray to the Owen Sound Attack on Monday for a seventh-round pick in the 2026 OHL Priority Selection … Mike Cairns and Andrew Willmetts were the referees. Photo/article credit North Bay Battalion