North Bay Battalion forward Nick Paul (21) reaches for the puck in the Soo Greyhounds zone, while Tyler Gaudet (32) and Brandon Halverson look on during the Troops' 2-1 win Sunday afternoon./DENIS DUBOIS PHOTO
One of the advantages to having depth throughout the line up is the capability to develop energy and offense no matter who is on the ice.
It also allows rookies to find their role. Rookies like Brett McKenzie, who centered the third line with Vincent Praplan and Alex Henriksson working the wing.
McKenzie had the winning goal Sunday afternoon as the Troops (27-18-4-2) took down the Soo Greyhounds (35-12-1-4) 2-1.
This, after scoring in a win over Oshawa Friday night. Battalion head coach Stan Butler says McKenzie just continues to get better and better all the time.
“We’ve balanced our lines now which I think we need to do to be successful in the end. He’s playing with Praplan, who is a World Junior player and Henriksson, who played on the under-18 in Sweden last year,” he said, “He’s playing with two very good players and he’s got to relax and play and he’s starting to do that and that was a big goal he scored today.”
McKenzie was complimentary of his line mates, who he says started off the play on his tally.
“(Praplan’s) just good talent overall,” he said, “Great hands, good seeing-eye for good passes like he did today to Henriksson so I think he’s just a good overall player.”
Mike Amadio also scored for North Bay. Butler says the 2014 NHL draft-eligible forward is a big part of their team.
“He centres that line with (Ben) Thomson and (Barclay) Goodrow,” he said, “They got good chemistry together and it really helps.”
David Miller was the only Soo player to beat Brendan O’Neill, who was getting his second straight start. He made 21 saves in the win.
“I thought he made the saves he had to make,” said Butler, “He was good in Oshawa, that’s all you ask with your goalies. I think we played pretty good defensively and what we need is the saves when we need the saves.”
The other way, Brandon Halverson got the nod in net and made 29 saves in the loss. He faced a flurry of shots in the third period, when the Troops outshot their opponents 15-4.
“It was a good weekend for us,” said Butler, “We had three really good opponents this week and in the first game, we didn’t come out and play as well as we did and I was proud of our guys, the way they bounced back to beat Oshawa in Oshawa with 6,000 people there and then to come back and beat the Soo today, it’s a credit to our guys.”
Butler feels the difference in the last two games as opposed to Thursday’s loss to London was that his team had to play complete games.
“You had to play 200 feet and we had to be pretty complete,” he said, “Obviously, there’s not a lot of room for error when you play those types of teams.”
As the season rolls through its final quarter, there aren’t too many questions on the injury front. Calvin Gomes is out for the year after getting surgery on his shoulder. Butler says with all the options in his lineup, it’s sure to make things competitive.
“I think what it does is guys realize that if they don’t play up to their potential, they could be out of the line up,” he said.
The Troops host the Sudbury Wolves on Thursday night. A North Bay win would tie the two teams at 62 points and position them a top the Central Division standings.
Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.
Game Notes
-The attendance was 3,153.
