Chant stars as troops shut down Platers 4-1
Brampton, ON – David Chant made 41 saves and Raffi Torres scored a goal for the ninth consecutive game as the Battalion defeated the Owen Sound Platers 4-1 in a Sunday matinee at the Brampton Centre. The win strengthens Brampton’s playoff chances as it now has sole possession of third place in the OHL Midwest Division after the Guelph Storm were upended 4-2 on Sunday afternoon by the St. Michael’s Majors.
The Platers came to the Bunker eight points behind the Battalion for the final Western Conference playoff spot. Owen Sound had split a pair of games with the Erie Otters over the weekend while Brampton was making its first start since dropping a tough 5-4 overtime decision to the hometown London Knights on Friday night. The Battalion had beaten the Otters 5-4 in overtime at the Bunker on February 17.
Brampton drew first blood when Richard Kearns scored his ninth of the year with the Platers a man short at 7:13 of the opening frame. Kearns corralled a shot by defenceman Jason Maleyko that deflected off the end boards and moved in on Owen Sound goaltender Curtis Sanford but before he could get a shot off, the puck slid off the heel of his stick and between Sanford’s legs.
A little over a minute later, the Battalion struck again when Matt Grennier collected his third goal of the season. Grennier initially tried to jam the puck in the short side as he came around the net but Sanford kicked the puck away. Grennier alertly grabbed his own rebound and wired a wrist shot into the top corner on the stick side.
The troops almost stretched their lead to 3-0 with less than six minutes to go when a Jeff Bateman point shot hit the post. The Battalion went to the dressing room after the first period with a 2-0 lead and a 13-11 edge in shots.
The Platers stepped up their attack in the second period and peppered David Chant with 22 shots but was only able to foil him once. With a little over seven minutes gone in the stanza, Plater forward Derek Campbell emerged with the puck from a scrum behind the Battalion net and drilled a pass to Adam Campbell at the point who directed a hard shot on goal which Chant handled. The Brampton netminder could not harness the rebound and it landed on the stick of rookie centre Greg Jacina at the side of the net. Jacina put a nice move on Chant and slid the puck home for his fifth goal of the year.
Jay McClement restored Brampton’s two-goal lead at 2:46 of the third after Jason Maleyko had done a good job of keeping the puck in the Owen Sound zone. Maleyko lofted a shot towards the net and McClement found himself in perfect position to collect the rebound and slide it by Curtis Sanford.
The Platers had managed to keep Raffi Torres in check through most of the game and it looked like his season-high streak of eight games with at least one goal would be in jeopardy. But , with less than ten minutes to go, Aaron VanLeusen brought the puck out of the Battalion end and directed a pass to Torres who had the puck deflect off his skate to a streaking Jeff Bateman who slid the puck back to Torres who, by now, had got behind Owen Sound defenceman Adam Campbell. Torres collected the pass and beat Sanford high on the glove side for his 37th goal of the year. The goal was Torres’ 75th point of his sophomore campaign.
The win moves Brampton (21-28-7-4) into third place in the Midwest Division, two points up on the Guelph Storm and ten points ahead of the Platers. Owen Sound (17-35-4-5) is last in the division and only one point ahead of the London Knights who lost 4-3 to the Kitchener Rangers on Sunday afternoon. The Knights, OHL playoff finalists last year, hold two wins over the Battalion this year but have the worst record in the Western Conference.
The Battalion will travel to Owen Sound on March 18 for their final matchup of the season.
Brampton is idle this week until Thursday night when they host the surging Plymouth Whalers, who have won nine games in a row and own the best record in the conference. Brampton and Plymouth have met three times this season with the Battalion holding a 2-1 edge. Brampton won the last meeting between the teams 5-3 in Plymouth on January 15. Richard Kearns had two goals and Raffi Torres collected three points in a winning effort for the troops. The Battalion will travel to the Hershey Centre on Friday night to take on the Mississauga IceDogs and then play host to the Dogs on Sunday February 27 in a matinee game that will be broadcast on CTV Sportsnet.
