Ottawa blanks Battalion
Goaltenders Jaeden Nelson and Collin MacKenzie combined to make 40 saves, backing the Ottawa 67’s to a 5-0 shutout over the North Bay Battalion in an Ontario Hockey League preseason game Friday night.
Caden Kelly scored two goals and Kimi Korbler provided one goal and one assist for Ottawa, which got its other goals from Nathan Amidovski and Chris Barlas.
Starter Nelson stopped 17 shots before MacKenzie came on in relief at 6:40 of the second period and made 23 saves as Ottawa evened its exhibition record at one win and one loss
In North Bay’s exhibition opener, starting goaltender Carter Nadon gave up four goals on 22 shots through two periods before being relieved by fellow rookie Charlie Larocque, who allowed one goal on 10 shots.
The Troops, who trailed 3-0 after 20 minutes, outshot the visitors 13-10 in the first frame and hit the post twice on the way to five shots off the iron in the game.
“We like playing Ottawa (in preseason),” said Battalion coach Ryan Oulahen. “That’s a pretty good, high-intensity game for exhibition, and it allows us to work on our stuff.
“You look at the scoreboard and it is what it is, but outside of that I thought there were some things that we kind of liked. I’m looking at the big picture, so there’s a lot that I do know with our team and there’s a lot that I don’t know. Some of the things I don’t know, that’s what kind of impressed me. Some of the young kids can really skate. There’s some good skill. The guys on the back end can move the puck pretty well.
“We didn’t extend our shifts and get caught out there and start running around and all that. We were doing an okay job in the game, and I do like a lot of things that we were doing.”
Amidovski opened the scoring at 4:13 of the first period off a two-on-one attack off the left wing, with Korbler and Henry Mews drawing assists. A first-rounder in the OHL Priority Selection in April, Amidovski is the brother of the Battalion’s Lirim Amidovski.
Kelly scored from a near-impossible angle on the right-wing boards at 8:47 as Charlie Hilton and Thomas Barney assisted, and Barlas struck at 18:35, redirecting a Matthew Mayich pass from the left boards to the crease.
Korbler connected at 19:05 of the middle period, knocking the puck home after a scramble at the right side. Thomas Sirman had the lone assist.
Kelly converted a rebound at 13:04 of the third period to complete the scoring. Jack Dever and Jordan Perrier were credited with assists.
The Battalion plays host to the Owen Sound Attack at 2 p.m. Sunday. The game follows the inaugural Fan Fest scheduled to start outside Memorial Gardens at 10:30 a.m.
BATTALION BULLETS: The Battalion went 0-for-1 on the power play. Ottawa was 0-for-2 … Opening lines featured Ethan Procyszyn centring left winger Natan Teshome and right winger Anthony Romani, Andrew LeBlanc centring left winger Ihnat Pazii and right winger Jacob Therrien and Ryder Carey pivoting left winger Nolan Laird and right winger Amidovski. Dylan Richter centred left winger Reyth Smith and right winger Stepan Chukharev … Defence pairings saw Brayden Turley with Jacob LeBlanc, Bronson Ride with Zach Wilson and Aaron Enright with Kent Greer… The Battalion was without Mike McIvor, Wyatt Kennedy, Declan Gallivan, Dalyn Wakely, Owen Van Steensel and Tyson Rismond … Nadon, Larocque, Teshome, Carey, Chukharev, Enright and Greer made their OHL debuts … Right winger Stef Forgione has cleared waivers and was released Friday, leaving the Battalion with a total of 26 on the roster, comprising 14 forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders. Forgione, a free-agent signee a year ago, played 14 regular-season and five playoff games without recording a point … Rookie defenceman Gallivan, who missed training camp because of illness, is aiming to play in December … With Liam Arnsby having graduated, no one was designated as captain, but Procyszyn and Romani served as alternates.
