Troops to play past Sunday
Lirim Amidovski scored at 14:41 of the third period, giving the North Bay Battalion a 5-4 victory Friday night over the Niagara IceDogs and guaranteeing the Troops at least a tiebreaker playoff game for an Ontario Hockey League postseason berth.
North Bay improved its won-lost-extended record to 27-34-6 for 60 points, fifth in the Central Division, eighth in the Eastern Conference and four points ahead of the idle Ottawa 67’s.
Ottawa, 23-33-10 for 56 points, fourth in the East Division and ninth in the conference, must win its final two games, both on the road, Saturday night against the Erie Otters and Sunday against the Brantford Bulldogs, and hope the Battalion fails to secure a point in its final game Sunday against the visiting Sudbury Wolves.
If that happens, a tie for the eighth postseason position would require a tiebreaker playoff game Tuesday night. The team with more regulation and overtime wins, ignoring victories via shootout, gets home ice. The Battalion has an insurmountable 24-21 lead in the pertinent category.
Ihnat Pazii, Ethan Procyszyn, Nick Wellenreiter and Amidovski all had one goal and one assist, while Andrew LeBlanc also scored. Goaltender Mike McIvor provided 28 saves for North Bay, which defeated the visiting Oshawa Generals 5-1 Thursday night.
Adrian Manzo contributed three assists and Kent Greer two before a crowd of 3,936 at the Meridian Centre.
Ryan Roobroeck had one goal and two assists for Niagara, and Ivan Galiyanov, Kevin He and Noah Van Vliet provided a goal apiece. Goaltender Owen Flores made 25 saves for the IceDogs, 29-30-8 for 66 points, fourth in the Central and seventh in the conference.
He gave Niagara a 3-2 lead 53 seconds into the final period, one second after a hooking penalty to Jacob LeBlanc expired, but the Battalion erupted for two goals 20 seconds apart in the seventh minute.
Wellenreiter cashed his 11th goal of the season at 6:07 after Manzo put the puck to the end boards and Amidovski retrieved it for a setup pass to the mid slot. Andrew LeBlanc then snapped his 13th goal home from the left circle off a pass from Procyszyn. Greer also assisted.
Defenceman Van Vliet was credited with his eighth goal when his left-point shot got past McIvor at 10:22 as Greer was being knocked into the goaltender. The goal survived a video review.
For the deciding tally, Amidovski went to the slot to tip a Pazii drive from high in the zone, with Manzo drawing the other assist.
Pazii, playing his 100th game, opened the scoring in the first period for the second straight night, beating Flores from the left circle off a fast-paced rush. Manzo and Greer had assists on Pazii’s 10th goal.
Galiyanov replied at 16:04, converting a pass from the end boards after Niagara won a battle for the puck. Sean Doherty and Max Crete assisted on Galiyanov’s 11th goal.
Penalty killers Procyszyn and Wellenreiter staged an odd-man rush shortly after Pazii went off for hooking at 7:34, but Procyszyn fired wide. McIvor was solid against Alex Assadourian when he charged across the crease in the 14th minute.
Procyszyn struck for his team-leading 33rd goal at 5:29 of the second period, drilling the puck from between the hash marks off a backhanded pass from the goal line by Wellenreiter. Bronson Ride had the other assist.
Roobroeck tied it on the power play at 8:22 on a blast from the left circle. Ethan Czata and Matthew Virgilio assisted on Roobroeck’s team-leading 41st goal.
Niagara had a three-minute man advantage after Brayden Turley took a head-checking major, fighting major and game misconduct at 12:54, with Assadourian drawing an instigating minor, fighting major and misconduct. The head check was at the expense of Matthieu Paris, who left for repairs.
The Sudbury game at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens at 2 p.m. Sunday features Kal Tire Fan Appreciation Day.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion went 3-3-0 in the teams’ season series. Niagara won 7-5 at home Oct. 12, 7-3 at North Bay on Dec. 12 and 3-1 at St. Catharines on Jan. 18 before the host Troops prevailed 4-3 via shootout Feb. 2 and 4-3 on March 6 … Pazii, a native of Kharkiv, Ukraine, was a first-round pick in the 2023 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft after a season with the Chicago-based Windy City Storm U16s. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 career points … Amidovski, Wellenreiter and Jacob LeBlanc topped the Troops with four shots on goal each. He paced the IceDogs with five … The Battalion went 0-for-2 on the power play. Niagara was 1-for-4 … Opening lines had Procyszyn centring left winger Andrew LeBlanc and right winger Shamar Moses, Zach Wigle centring left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Parker Vaughan and Pazii skating between left winger Amidovski and right winger Wellenreiter. Briir Long centred left winger Stepan Chukharev and right winger Ryder Carey … Defence pairings saw Ride with Jacob LeBlanc, Turley with Greer and Zach Wilson with Manzo … The Battalion was without Aaron Enright, Reyth Smith and Jacob Therrien, who suffered a lower-body injury in a postgame accident Thursday night … McIvor celebrates his 19th birthday Saturday … Among the missing for Niagara were Andrew Wycisk and Charlie Robertson … Darcy Burchell and Drew Jackson were the referees.
Shar
