Troops Finish Regular Season With a W
Anthony Romani scored two goals in an 8-3 romp Sunday by the North Bay Battalion over the Peterborough Petes that left the Ontario Hockey League’s Central Division champion with the second seed in the Eastern Conference and a first-round playoff series against the seventh-place Kingston Frontenacs.
The Oshawa Generals defeated the Sudbury Wolves 5-1 Sunday night, giving Oshawa 89 points atop the East Division and the first seed in the conference..
Sandis Vilmanis and Wyatt Kennedy each had one goal and two assists for North Bay, which finished the regular season with a won-lost-extended record of 39-20-9 for 87 points.
Ethan Procyszyn, Dalyn Wakely and Jacob Therrien each provided one goal and one assist, while Owen Van Steensel also scored.
Goaltender Dom DiVincentiis made 14 saves on 17 shots through two periods for the win, and Mike McIvor took over for the scoreless third frame, stopping all four shots he faced before 3,881 at Memorial Gardens.
Romani finished second in the OHL scoring race with a league-leading 58 goals and 53 assists for 111 points in 68 games. The goals total is second only to Justin Brazeau’s 61 in franchise history.
Ryder McIntyre scored two goals and Quinton Page one for Peterborough, while goaltender Easton Rye made 36 saves.
Peterborough, which finished fifth in the East and ninth in the conference, missing the playoffs after winning the OHL championship last season, were 20-40-8 for 48 points.
The Battalion, which led 3-2 at the first intermission, blew the game open with five straight second-period goals, including three in a span of 2:06 sparked by Romani with what proved to be the winner at 5:13 after Liam Arnsby intercepted a clearing pass and shipped the puck to an open right side.
Therrien scored his 20th goal on a breakaway 39 seconds later, taking a lead pass from Procyszyn and going to the backhand.
Vilmanis struck shorthanded from Tnias Mathurin at 7:19, sifting through several Petes in the left circle and tucking a forehand behind Rye. It was Vilmanis’s 38th goal, his 28th in 30 games since a trade from the Sarnia Sting.
Wakely wired home his 39th goal to the short side on the power play at 14:35, with assists to Jacob LeBlanc and Vilmanis, before defenceman Kennedy collected his second goal on a one-timer off a setup by Therrien and Brice Cooke.
McIntyre took advantage of a two-man advantage scheduled for 1:22 with a backdoor goal, his 14th, at 19:18.
Procyszyn opened the scoring at 5:32 of the first period using defender Liam Ladds as a screen to beat Rye from the left circle. Justin Ertel and Kennedy assisted on Procyszyn’s 15th goal.
Wakely swatted a puck from behind the net to Van Steensel out front for his 41st goal at 8:03. Kennedy had the other assist before McIntyre put the puck inside the right post at 15:48.
Romani scored on the power play at 17:53 on assists by Vilmanis and Ty Nelson, and Page pulled the Petes within one at 19:28 with his15th goal.
BATTALION BULLETS: On Fan Appreciation Day presented by Cascades Casino North Bay, security manager Steve Brown delivered a cheque for $1,000 to the North Bay & District Humane Society and executive director Liam Cullin … The Battalion went 3-0-1 in the teams’ season series … North Bay was 8-1-1 in March … Wakely finished with a 12-game points streak in which he had 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points. In 199 games, he has 89 goals, one more than Brett McKenzie for 10th place in franchise history … In 187 games, Nelson recorded 130 assists, one more than Cody Hodgson for fourth in Battalion annals … The Battalion went 2-for-3 on the power play. Peterborough was 1-for-7 … Opening lines saw Wakely centring left winger Van Steensel and right winger Romani, Arnsby pivoting left winger Ertel and right winger Vilmanis and Procyszyn centring left winger Cooke and right winger Therrien. Left winger Ihnat Pazii and right winger Lirim Amidovski had rotating linemates … Defence pairs were Kennedy with Nelson, Mathurin with Paul Christopoulos and Bronson Ride with LeBlanc. Trevor McDowell also saw action … The Battalion scratched Brayden Turley, Nolan Laird, Andrew LeBlanc and Stef Forgione … LeBlanc was sidelined for a second consecutive game with a forearm contusion … Among Peterborough’s missing were Liam Sztuska, Jonathan Melee and Quinn Binnie … Blake Beer and Ryan Harrison were the referees.
