Spitfires outgun Troops

It took a week, but the Windsor Spitfires avenged a home-ice loss to the North Bay Battalion.

Ryan Abraham scored one goal and added two assists as Windsor defeated North Bay 5-3 in an Ontario Hockey League game Thursday night, building a 4-0 first-period edge and leading 5-2 in the third.

Liam Greentree had one goal and one assist, and Carter Hicks, Ethan Belchetz and Anthony Cristoforo also scored for the Spitfires, while goaltender Joey Costanzo made 35 saves.

Windsor, which moved its won-lost-extended record to 14-4-1 for 29 points atop the West Division, is tied with the Kitchener Rangers of the Midwest Division for the most points in the league.

Ethan Procyszyn had two goals and Zach Wilson one for the Battalion before a crowd of 2,481. Starting goaltender Charlie Larocque gave up four goals on 10 shots before being relieved by Mike McIvor to start the second period. McIvor allowed one goal on 11 shots.

The game, close to a mirror image of a 5-4 Battalion road win seven nights earlier in which the Troops led 3-0 in the first frame and 5-2 in the third, saw North Bay’s record go to 8-9-2 for 18 points, fourth in the Central Division.

Rookie defenceman Hicks opened the scoring with his first OHL goal at 2:39 of the first period, beating Larocque under the crossbar from high on the right point. Owen Outwater had the sole assist.

Greentree struck on the power play from the top of the left circle at 8:18 after taking a cross-ice pass from Ilya Protas. Abraham also assisted on Greentree’s 10th

Belchetz, the No. 1 pick in the OHL Priority Selection in April, deked his way through the slot and hoisted a backhand behind Larocque at 10:40 for his fifth goal, assisted by Protas and Greentree.

Cristoforo connected from deep on the right boards at 16:26 as the puck deflected sharply between Larocque’s legs. Cole Davis and Abraham earned assists on defenceman Cristoforo’s fourth goal, the eventual winner.

Abraham netted his eighth goal 1:07 into the middle period with the first shot on McIvor, a drive from the right-wing half boards, before the Battalion came to life with a pair of goals in the rest of the frame.

Rookie rearguard Wilson collected his first OHL goal at 5:47, scoring from the right point with assists going to Andrew LeBlanc and Brayden Turley as Stepan Chukharev provided a screen in the slot.

Procyszyn scored his league-leading seventh power-play goal at 8:02, collecting the puck after it was blocked by Tnias Mathurin and knocking it past Costanzo. Jacob LeBlanc and Shamar Moses drew assists. Reyth Smith and Nolan Laird then had back-to-back chances in the 17th minute but failed to put the puck past the sprawled Costanzo.

How to Watch Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime in 2024With McIvor on the bench, Procyszyn went backhand to forehand to slip the puck home at the left post at 18:05 of the final period. LeBlanc and Owen Van Steensel assisted on Procyszyn’s team-high 14th goal. Abraham drew a cross-checking minor and misconduct at 19:18, and the Troops ended the game on the power play skating six against four.

The Battalion plays host to the Sudbury Wolves at 3 p.m. Sunday on Canor Day. Game time is one hour later than usual for Sundays as Chippewa Street traffic will be constricted for the start of the Santa Claus parade.

BATTALION BULLETS: Butch Turcotte Night presented by Dave’s Heating & Cooling honoured the late longtime minor hockey coach who led the Pinehill Coffee Shop midgets to a Canadian title at Memorial Gardens in 1984. With his son Darren Turcotte also recognized, the Battalion wore New York Rangers-style warmup sweaters to mark a 12-year National Hockey League career. He now coaches the Nipissing Lakers women’s team, which joined him and family members in a pregame ceremony … Van Steensel led the Battalion with eight shots on goal, while Procyszyn had five. Protas paced Windsor with five … Each team went 1-for-3 on the power play … Opening lines saw Procyszyn centring left winger Van Steensel and right winger Moses, Andrew LeBlanc centring left winger Chukharev and right winger Jacob Therrien and Ryder Carey pivoting left winger Smith and right winger Laird. Briir Long centred left winger Dylan Richter and right winger Natan Teshome … The Battalion was without Declan Gallivan, Aaron Enright, Ihnat Pazii, Anthony Romani and Lirim Amidovski … McIvor was scratched for five games after being shaken up in a 3-1 loss Oct. 25 at Sudbury. Carter Nadon has been returned to the junior A Haliburton County Huskies… Belchetz, Jean-Christoph Lemieux and Hicks rejoined the Spitfires from the World Under-17 Challenge at Sarnia … Outwater and Mathurin are former members of the Battalion … Ryan Elbers and Aaron Neely were the referees. Photo/article credit-North Bay Battalion