Troops’ win doubles lead

Lirim Amidovski, Ihnat Pazii and Nick Wellenreiter, into an empty net, scored unanswered third-period goals to send the North Bay Battalion to a 5-2 victory Sunday over the Ottawa 67’s, giving the Troops a four-point lead over the losers in the battle for the last playoff position in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference.

Jacob Therrien and Bronson Ride also scored for the Battalion, and Wellenreiter added an assist before an enthusiastic crowd of 2,795 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens. Each team has six games left to play.

Goaltender Mike McIvor provided 26 saves in another solid performance for North Bay, which improved its won-lost-extended record to 25-32-5 for 55 points, fifth in the Central Division and eighth in the conference.

Luca Pinelli and Jack Dever scored first-period goals 27 seconds apart and goaltender Jaeden Nelson allowed four goals on 29 shots for Ottawa, which dressed 15 skaters, three below the limit.

Ottawa is 21-32-9 for 51 points, fourth in the East Division and ninth in the conference. In their previous two games, the 67’s played a home-and-home series with the Peterborough Petes, losing 4-3 on the road Thursday night and 4-3 via shootout Saturday at TD Place to the conference’s 10th-place team.

After a 2-2 tie through 40 minutes, Amidovski scored the winner at 7:15 of the third period, wiring the puck past Nelson’s glove from the right circle. Wellenreiter and Jacob LeBlanc assisted on Amidovski’s 16th goal of the season.

Pazii drove deep on the left wing and made a move to the net, beating Nelson from a sharp angle at 12:30 for a 4-2 lead. Pazii’s sixth goal was unassisted.

Wellenreiter added the empty-netter, also unassisted, from his own zone at 19:16 for his 10th goal.

McIvor made two big stops in the frame, stoning Nathan Amidovski with the left pad on a breakaway in the 11th minute and blocking a Nic Whitehead threat at the left side of the crease in the 12th.

Therrien opened the scoring with his 16th goal on the power play at 16:01 of the first period, assisted by Andrew LeBlanc and Shamar Moses. Therrien emerged from deep on the left wing, darted across the goalmouth and slammed the puck inside the right post.

Pinelli tied it 51 seconds later off a turnover in the Battalion zone, snapping his team-leading 33rd goal from the left circle on an assist by Filip Ekberg.

Dever then gave Ottawa the lead at 17:19, seizing a loose puck off a shot that was blocked in the right circle and firing it at the net for his eighth goal. Bradley Horner and Matthew Mayich drew assists.

Ride knotted it 2-2 at 12:13 of the middle period after the Troops applied sustained pressure in the Ottawa zone. Defenceman Ride wristed home his fifth goal from the left dot with an assist to Jacob LeBlanc.

Pazii zipped between defenders to get in alone on Nelson, who stopped the first shot and a follow-up effort at 2:04, and Ryder Carey hit iron behind the Ottawa goaltender in the 18th minute.

The Battalion plays host to the Brantford Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Thursday on Subaru of North Bay Night, when March Mania presents Shoot to Win $25,000.

BATTALION BULLETS: On OUTLoud & Deacon Wealth Management DEI Day, March Mania presented Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Day. Seth Compton of OUTLoud North Bay and Steven Deacon of Deacon Wealth Management took part in the pregame faceoff … The teams completed their season series, with each side going 3-3-0. Ottawa won 6-3 at home Oct. 5 before the host Battalion prevailed 3-2 on Oct. 24. The 67’s won 4-3 at North Bay on Dec. 15, and the Troops triumphed 3-2 at Ottawa on Feb. 17 before suffering a 5-2 loss there Feb. 28 … The Battalion went 1-for-3 on the power play. Ottawa was 0-for-1 … Opening lines featured Ethan Procyszyn centring left winger Andrew LeBlanc and right winger Therrien, Zach Wigle centring left winger Moses and right winger Parker Vaughan and Pazii skating between left winger Amidovski and right winger Wellenreiter. Nolan Laird centred left winger Briir Long and right winger Carey … Defence pairings were Ride with Jacob LeBlanc, Aaron Enright with Kent Greer and Zach Wilson with Adrian Manzo … The Battalion was without Brayden Turley, Reyth Smith and Stepan Chukharev … Among the missing for Ottawa were Theo Avila, Shaan Kingwell, Chase Yanni, Kohyn Eshkawkogan, Kimi Korbler, Zach Houben and Nolan Jackson … Pinelli has a five-game points streak in which he has three goals and six assists for nine points … Ekberg has a five-game points streak during which he has four goals and three assists for seven points.