North Bay Battalion defenceman Kyle Wood closely covers Barrie Colts forward Joseph Blandisi in the Troops' win in game two of the Eastern Conference semi final on Sunday night. PHOTO BY SEAN RYAN
The North Bay Battalion have regained home ice advantage in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Barrie Colts.
The Troops rebounded from a game one loss with a strong performance at the Barrie Molson Centre on Sunday night, capitalizing on the Colts in the first and third periods to beat Barrie 3-2.
Nick Paul scored the game-winning goal in spectacular fashion with a third period shorthanded snipe, while goaltender Jake Smith continued to look sharp with a strong 24-save performance.
"It was huge; we knew we had to come back strong, had to come out with the win and work harder than the night before and that's what we did tonight," Paul said after the game.
It was a tale of two periods for the North Bay boys, who play a strong beginning and end to the tough tilt.
But it all started with blazing pace by the Battalion, who took advantage of a shakey start from Colt goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood.
Having not scored an even strength goal against the Colts yet this series, the Troops continued their special teams trend with their first power play opportunity of the game.
After gaining control of the Colts’ zone, Mike Amadio was given plenty of time and space down deep and found defenceman Kyle Wood sneaking in from the top of the faceoff circle, who corralled the pass and fired the puck over the glove of the Barrie’s Blackwood.
After another 10 minutes of very convincing play by the North Bay boys, Ray Huether stole the spotlight with one of the most gorgeous goals of the season.
Hemmed in deep in the Colts’ corner, Huether made two Barrie backcheckers bite, eluding both of them with a dazzling dangle and showed great patience with the puck as he crossed the Colt crease and beat Blackwood on the glove side.
But Barrie bounced back with a much stronger second period, who wasted no time in turning the tables.
The Battalion fell victim to a fresh sheet of ice, with Wood failing to clear the North Bay zone after the puck got stuck in the standing water from the Zamboni.
Colt forward Brendan Lemieux capitalized on the coughed up puck and slipped it in from behind Smith, using Wood to redirect the puck past his own goaltender.
Just over two minutes later, the Battalion lead was entirely erased after the Battalion missed a defensive assignment in a rare meltdown in their own zone.
Barrie’s Roy Radke was left all alone next to Smith, allowing him to get the time and space to beat the North Bay netminder from in close.
But the Battalion would rebound by tapping into the same jump that caused the Colts to claw back in the second.
With Miles Liberati in the penalty box for tripping less than five minutes into the third period, Paul stepped into the Colts’ zone after stealing the puck in the neutral zone and sniped the eventual game-winner over the blocker of Blackwood with pinpoint precision.
“It was a two-on-one, we had Moutrey driving to the net and I saw space on the blocker side and I found the blocker side past Blackwood,” Paul recounted.
Paul’s team-leading fourth of the postseason was the Troops’ second shorthanded goal of the series.
The teams played to a frantic finish after the Colts pulled Blackwood for the extra attacker. The Troops narrowly missed numerous empty-net chances, while the Colts couldn’t manage to set up inside the North Bay zone.
In the end, the Battalion held the fort and stole the second game in front of a surprisingly strong turnout by North Bay fans who made the road trip to support the Troops.
"We have an amazing fan base and we could hear them, there were 2 busloads down here, and it was real loud and can't wait to feed an even louder crowd on Tuesday," Paul said on OHL Tonight.
The series now turns into a best-of-five as it turns back to North Bay, with the two teams getting just one day off before resuming their rivalry at Memorial Gardens on Tuesday night.
Game time is 7 p.m.
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