Hounds score late for 2-1 victory
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – The North Bay Battalion, which brought a Northern Ontario rivalry back to life Friday night, tasted the bitter end of the first renewal.
Jared McCann’s goal at 19:51 of the third period lifted the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds to a 2-1 victory over the Battalion, which has returned the Ontario Hockey League to North Bay.
Sergey Tolchinsky retrieved the puck off the end boards to the right of the net and fed the disc diagonally to McCann, who beat Battalion goaltender Brendan O’Neill from the left side.
Tolchinsky had the other Sault Ste. Marie goal, assisted by McCann and Andrew Fritsch. Goaltender Matt Murray made 25 saves as the Greyhounds posted a second straight win to open the season, having trounced the visiting Sudbury Wolves 10-3 last Saturday night with McCann scoring four goals.
Nick Paul scored for the Battalion, which saw its won-lost-extended record evened at 2-2-0. O’Neill faced 30 shots for the Troops, who moved north for this season after 15 years in Brampton.
The Battalion played the first of three road games in as many days. The team is away from home for the first nine games of the season as renovations to Memorial Gardens continue.
“It was a broken play, and the puck ended up in the back of the net,” Battalion coach Stan Butler said of the Greyhounds’ late goal. “But you have to give them credit. They played hard and took advantage of their opportunity.”
The teams traded goals in the second period, with Paul striking first at 4:26. Steven Duda grabbed the puck, stepped across the blue line and passed to Paul, who beat Murray high to the blocker side from the mid slot. It was Paul’s first goal of the season, while the assist was Duda’s first OHL point.
Tolchinsky tied it on the power play at 14:08, just 10 seconds after Riley Bruce went off for tripping. The Troops failed to clear the puck from their zone, and Sault Ste. Marie had a three-on-two rush that saw Tolchinsky snap home his second goal.
Sault Ste. Marie held a 9-6 edge in shots in the scoreless first period. Paul and Blake Clarke staged a two-on-one attack in the sixth minute, but Murray made the save on Paul’s shot.
In the 11th minute, the Greyhounds’ Mac Clutsam fanned in playing the puck, turning it over to Vincent Praplan in the goalmouth, but he fired high and wide left.
O’Neill robbed Fritsch in tight on the right side at 14:57. O’Neill sprawled to his left to deny the Greyhounds’ best scoring chance of the period.
The Battalion visits the Saginaw Spirit at 7:11 p.m. Saturday and the Sarnia Sting at 4:05 p.m. Sunday. There is no North Bay television coverage of the Saginaw game.
BATTALION BULLETS: Attendance was 4,109 … The Battalion went 0-for-5 on the power play. Sault Ste. Marie was 1-for-7 … The last time the Battalion lost a game in the final minute was Jan. 9, 2011, when the Kitchener Rangers prevailed 2-1 at Brampton. The Troops’ previous such loss on the road was a 4-3 setback to the Owen Sound Attack on Feb. 14, 2004 … Captain Barclay Goodrow played his 254th game with the Battalion, tying Sam Carrick for fourth place on the franchise’s career list. Cameron Wind is first with 291 games … Clarke rejoined the Battalion at Sault Ste. Marie after playing Thursday night in the USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game at Pittsburgh, which featured 40 players eligible for the National Hockey League’s 2014 Draft. Clarke, one of eight OHLers named to the game, played for Team Joe Mullen as it suffered a 5-2 loss to Team Mark Johnson … Duda, a resident of Warrington, Pa., played last season with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League … Opening line combinations included Jamie Lewis centring left winger Praplan and right winger Goodrow, Mike Amadio centring left winger Brandon Robinson and right winger Alex Henriksson and Paul pivoting left winger Clarke and right winger Matt MacLeod. Mathew Santos centred Brett McKenzie on left wing and right winger Calvin Gomes … Amadio is a Sault Ste. Marie resident … The Battalion was without Kyle Wood, Shawn Tessier, Dylan Blujus, Zach Bell, Mike Baird and Jared Steege.
