Former North Bay Battalion goaltender Evan Cormier, now a member of the Saginaw Spirit, made 46 saves in a 3-0 shutout win in his return to Memorial Gardens on Thursday night. PHOTOS BY JAMES BERTI
If goaltender Evan Cormier had any hard feelings about being traded away from the North Bay Battalion earlier this month, he certainly found a way to tell his former team.
Cormier fended off a flurry of offensive pressure for the Saginaw Spirit at Memorial Gardens on Thursday night, making 46 saves in a 3-0 shutout win over the Battalion.
Despite outshooting the Spirit 46-18 and dictating the pace for the majority of the game, the troops couldn't find a way past their former teammate, who was named the first star of the game in his return to North Bay.
“I’m really glad things went the way they did," said a humble Cormier after the game. "Once the fans welcomed me a little bit the nerves started going away and I just started taking it all in; it’s like being in my second home.
“It’s an unreal feeling for me," he added.
On the offensive side, Dylan Sadowy took charge for the Spirit, scoring a shorthanded and power play goal in the second period, his 29th and 30th tallys of the season.
Battalion head coach Stan Butler was noticeably frustrated with his squad after the game, calling on his players to start producing on a more consistent basis.
“You’ve got to give Evan Cormier a lot of credit, he played a great game," Butler said, "but we have got to find ways to solve a hot goalie like that, and we didn’t do that tonight.
“You can’t expect four or five guys to drive the bus every night," he continued. "Tonight, when those four or five guys that have been carrying our team all year don’t produce goal-wise, you see what happens."
The two teams wasted no time getting reacquainted on Thursday, with respective enforcers Riley Bruce and Keaton Middleton losing their mittens and squaring off at centre in the early going.
With the momentum of the crowd on their side, the Battalion flooded Cormier and the Spirit net with 18 shots in the opening frame alone. Even with the wealth of quality chances, Cormier looked sharp and came up big every time.
The second period saw much of the same, with the Battalion dominating the pace of the play. But the Spirit were the ones who made the most of their opportunities; or, more particularly, Sadowy.
With the troops on the power play, defenceman Brenden Miller, usually the composed quarter back of the unit, fumbled the puck on the blue line and coughed up a clean breakaway to penalty-killer Sadowy. The Spirit leading scorer made no mistake on a forehand-backhand breakaway move, giving Saginaw the crucial first goal of the game.
After more relentless Battalion pressure after the goal, and more stunning saves from Cormier, it was Sadowy again who capitalized, this time on the power play. With Mike Baird given the gate for hooking with just 11 seconds left in the period, Sadowy was fed a perfect one-time pass that was in the back of the net before goaltender Jake Smith could reposition himself.
The Battalion turned up their offensive pressure again in the third period, but Cormier had an answer on each and every opportunity. With the North Bay net empty, Spirit forward Connor Brown finally put the game away with an insurance marker in the final two minutes.
“I want to see production from different players," Butler said after the game. "I’m holding my breath, but I’m not a deep-sea underwater diver; I can’t hold it forever.
“We don’t want a lot of secondary scoring, how about just a little bit?" he added. "We’re not asking for miracles; we’re just asking for results.”
The Battalion bench boss alluded to players like Mathew Santos, Brett McKenzie and Hampus Olsson needing to contribute more if the team is going to have win the close games down the stretch.
But he was also quick to hold the team's top line of Mike Amadio, Nick Paul and Ryan Kujawinski accountable for the goose egg on the scoreboard.
“It’s like somebody going to work all day and never getting anything done," Butler explained. "They are our top players, and our best players need to be our best players and they weren’t tonight."
Elsewhere in the league on Thursday night, the Central Divison-leading Barrie Colts also lost ground after going up against the powerhouse Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The hounds won 4-3 in regulation, meaning the Colts maintain their three point lead atop the Central Division with two games in-hand on the troops.
The North Bay boys will board a bus bound for Oshawa tomorrow for their matchup against the league-leading Generals, who are riding a three-game winning streak.
“If we don’t play a lot better than we did tonight, it’s going to be a long game tomorrow night,” Butler concluded.
