Troops down Peterborough
Nick Wellenreiter scored one goal and added an assist as the North Bay Battalion defeated the Peterborough Petes 5-4 Thursday night to pull within two points of the fourth-place Petes in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference.
Ryder Carey, Lirim Amidovski, Brandt Harper and Ethan Procyszyn, with what proved to be the winner, scored single goals for the Battalion, which got 23 saves from goaltender Jack Lisson in opening a three-game road trip before 3,806 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
North Bay, which posted a fourth consecutive victory, improved its won-lost-extended record to 30-22-3 for 63 points, second in the Central Division and fifth in the conference. Peterborough, 5-2-0 in its last seven games, is 31-21-3 for 65 points, third in the East Division.
Ryan Oulahen recorded his 200th win as the Battalion’s head coach, with a record of 200-127-28 from 355 games. Including two-plus seasons with the Flint Firebirds, Oulahen is 252-211-41 in 504 games, giving him 252 wins and 252 losses.
Grayden Strohack scored one goal and earned two assists and Kieron Walton, Yanis Lutz and Adam Novotny had a goal apiece for Peterborough, while goaltender Easton Rye made 27 saves.
North Bay took a 2-1 lead into the third period and added to it when Amidovski netted his 20th goal of the season 19 seconds into the new frame. Sebastien Gervais and Ryder Cali had the assists as Amidovski swung the puck home from high in the right circle.
Lutz replied at 7:58, stepping in from the right point and snapping the disc through heavy traffic for his ninth goal, and defenceman Strohack tied it 3-3 with his first goal at 10:33 on what appeared to be a harmless shot from high on the right wing off a rush.
Rearguard Harper struck for his sixth goal and a 4-3 lead 1:25 later, drilling a shot through a heavy net-front screen on an assist by Bronson Ride, before Procyszyn collected his team-leading 23rd goal at 17:39. Wellenreiter raced to the end boards to retrieve the puck and fed it back to Procyszyn in the right circle for a one-timer. Kaden Pitre also assisted.
Novotny answered with his team-high 27th goal at 18:13 to pull the Petes within one. Rye left for a sixth attacker with 1:25 to play, but the Troops staved off Peterborough’s efforts to force overtime.
The Battalion, which trailed 1-0 at the first intermission, tied it on Wellenreiter’s power-play goal at 5:07 of the second period. Pitre put the puck from high in the right circle to Wellenreiter on the left for a one-timer and his 18th goal. Kent Greer had the other assist on the goal in Wellenreiter’s 100th OHL game.
Carey lunged for a loose puck on the right side and sliced it into the net at 12:35. Hayden Barch and Evgeny Dubrovtsev assisted on Carey’s 12th goal.
Lisson was strong against a crease-crashing chance by Calum Hartnell in the seventh minute, and Procyszyn hit the right post off a rush in the ninth.
Walton scored at 15:41 of the opening period, firing the puck from deep on the right wing and sneaking it behind Lisson on the short side. Garrett Frazer and Strohack assisted on Walton’s 35th goal and his 11th in 16 games since a trade from the Sudbury Wolves.
Carter Kunopaski and Peterborough’s Brett Hammond tangled at 9:40, with each receiving a fighting major. The teams, who may well be first-round playoff opponents, had one power play apiece in the period, in which the Battalion held an 11-7 edge in shots on goal.
The Battalion visits the Kingston Frontenacs at 7:05 p.m. Friday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion has prevailed in all three meetings this season, after a 5-4 overtime win at home Oct. 23 and a 3-1 verdict at Peterborough on Nov. 27. The last encounter is March 15 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens … Procyszyn has a five-game points streak in which he has five goals and six assists for 11 points … Gavin Zepp, a 12th-round choice in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection from the St. Andrew’s College U18s of Aurora, Ont., rejoined the Troops to back up Lisson. Zepp filled the role during a 3-2 home-ice win via shootout over the Brampton Steelheads last Thursday night … The Battalion went 1-for-3 on the power play. Peterborough was 0-for-2 … Opening lines were Procyszyn centring left winger Pitre and right winger Wellenreiter, Cali pivoting left winger Gervais and right winger Amidovski and Cam Warren centring left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Parker Vaughan. Centre Dubrovtsev and right winger Carey had various linemates … Defence pairings had Ride with Harper, Kunopaski with Greer and Aaron Enright with Barch. Alexander Karmanov also saw action … The Battalion was without Mike McIvor, Adrian Manzo, Jonathan Kapageridis, Arseny Pronin and Shamar Moses … Ride returned after losing two games to a suspension and one to flu … The Petes were missing Adam Levac and Braydon McCallum, both suspended eight games after receiving match penalties for slew-footing and slashing respectively … Darcy Burchell and Aaron Neely were the referees.
