Battalion centre Brett McKenzie scored his first goal of the year in the second period versus the Soo Greyhounds. North Bay allowed two unanswered goals in the third period and fell 5-4.
On a night where fans were wearing pink, most were probably feeling red as the North Bay Battalion lost yet another close game.
Every time North Bay made a charge, Sault Ste Marie had an answer. The Battalion held the lead three times, only to see it disappear later in the period.
In fact, the Greyhounds only held the lead for a total of four minutes after Gabe Guertler scored the game winner late in the third period.
The 5-4 win for the Greyhound keeps their eight game winning streak alive to begin the season.
“The games you lose that you think you have a chance to win are the most frustrating. I give them credit, they are very good team and very well coached,” shared Battalion coach Stan Butler. “I just felt there were times tonight we didn’t play second effort hockey. We had a couple of guys with their body language and their effort in certain situations was not the type of effort you should have if you want to be a winning hockey team.”
North Bay did show signs of life as it quickly jumped to early lead thanks to an easy tap in by Alex Henriksson at the six minute mark. They then grabbed two more goals in the second period, courtesy Ray Huether, who scored his first goal as a Battalion member, and Brett McKenzie added one on a two man advantage.
However sloppy defense and bad luck allowed the Greyhounds to crawl back into the game.
First, Zachary Senyshin was left alone in front of the net and easily found the back of the cage.
Before the second period ceasefire an innocent shot from an impossible angle behind the net somehow fooled Jake Smith to tie the game at three.
Butler says more mistakes were made in the third after North Bay once again regained the lead thanks to a top shelf wrister by Miles Liberati.
“On the fourth goal we turned the puck over in their end and the guys that turned the puck over don’t back check and skate hard and as a result they score a goal and on the fifth goal our guys need to get to the point quicker.”
It was the Battalion’s first lose in regulation time in this young season (3-1-3-0). North Bay is back at it this Sunday against the Mississauga Steelheads.
Game time is 2:00 p.m.
