Soo sweeps Troops pair
Quinn McKenzie and Chase Reid each scored two goals to pace the Soo Greyhounds to a 6-1 victory Sunday over the North Bay Battalion, extending an Ontario Hockey League winning streak to eight games.
Noah Laus and Travis Hayes also scored, while goaltender Landon Miller was solid in making 31 saves before 3,752 at GFL Memorial Gardens. Marcus Mignosa and Christopher Brown had three assists apiece.
Soo moved its won-lost-extended record to 29-14-2 for 60 points, third in the West Division.
Lirim Amidovski scored for the Battalion, which completed a set of back-to-back dates with the host Greyhounds, who prevailed 3-0 Saturday night. Goaltender Cole Vreugdenhil, making his second OHL appearance, provided 25 saves.
North Bay, which lost captain Ethan Procyszyn to a first-period game misconduct, is 24-19-2 for 50 points, second in the Central Division.
Laus opened the scoring at 5:28 of the second period after a Battalion turnover at the blue line. Carson Andrew put the puck to the net from the right circle for rookie Laus’s ninth goal of the season.
Defenceman Reid poked a backhander home from the goalmouth on the power play at 15:09. Mignosa and Lukas Fischer assisted on what proved to be the winner.
Amidovski responded with the man advantage at 18:15, curling in the left corner and wiring the puck to the short side from the circle for his 17th goal, tied with Procyszyn for the team lead. Sebastien Gervais and Cam Warren assisted.
McKenzie struck on the power play 32 seconds later, converting his own rebound after a cross-crease pass from Mignosa. Brown had the other assist.
McKenzie netted his 18th goal with the man advantage at 1:46 of the third period, converting from the back door at the right side off a cross-ice pass from Mignosa. Brown also assisted.
With the teams skating four a side, Hayes connected off a two-on-one rush with Spencer Evans, who had the lone assist on Hayes’s 11th goal at 7:54.
Reid completed the scoring during a two-man advantage at 10:36. Brown and Fischer assisted on Reid’s 18th goal.
Soo enjoyed the only two power plays of the opening period, first when Alexander Karmanov received crosschecking and roughing calls to Callum Croskery’s roughing minor at 3:57. Miller denied Nick Wellenreiter on a shorthanded breakaway at 4:52.
Procyszyn, who got an arm up on Reid, was jumped by Fischer at 16:00. Procyszyn was issued a head-checking major, fighting major and game misconduct, while Fischer drew an instigating minor, fighting major and misconduct.
The Battalion visits the Windsor Spitfires at 7:05 p.m. Thursday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: The teams completed the four-game season series. In the first two meetings at North Bay, Soo won 4-3 on Oct. 5 and 4-1 on Oct. 30 … Kent Greer topped the Troops with five shots on goal. McKenzie and Reid paced the Greyhounds with five apiece … The Battalion went 1-for-4 on the power play. Soo was 4-for-7 … Opening lines included Procyszyn centring left winger Wellenreiter and right winger Parker Vaughan, Kaden Pitre pivoting left winger Gervais and right winger Amidovski and Ryder Cali skating between left winger Shamar Moses and right winger Warren. Evgeny Dubrovtsev centred left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Ryder Carey … Defence pairings had Bronson Ride with Brandt Harper, Jonathan Kapageridis with Greer and Karmanov with Hayden Barch … The Battalion was without Mike McIvor, Adrian Manzo, Aaron Enright, Carter Kunopaski and Arseny Pronin … Jack Lisson backed up Vreugdenhil, a fifth-round pick in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection from the Halton Hurricanes U16s. He made 32 saves in a 5-2 win Jan. 16 over the host Oshawa Generals. Vreugdenhil, who turned 16 on Nov. 3, is up from the junior A Powassan Voodoos while McIvor recovers from a lower-body injury … Among the missing for Soo were Jakub Winkelhofer and Brady Martin … Laus was the seventh overall pick in 2025 from the Toronto Jr. Canadiens U16s, taken one spot after Warren … Alex Joubert and Joe Monette were the referees.
