Battalion defenceman Kyle Wood rips a shot at Gens goalie Ken Appleby who was picture perfect on this night. PHOTO COURTESY SEAN RYAN.
OSHAWA, ON - Dakota Mermis scored 62 seconds into overtime as the Oshawa Generals defeated the North Bay Battalion 1-0 in a physical tight checking affair at the General Motors Centre Sunday evening.
Mermis’ shot came on a rebound off a Michael McCarron shot that came off the boards and bounced right to Mermis who buried it past a sliding Jake Smith for the game winner and the game's only goal.
"It was kind of lucky that Mac missed the net and it came off the boards and fortunately right on my tape to put it in,” said Mermis about the game winner during the OHL Eastern Conference final press conference.
The move came just moments after a nasty hit from behind by Cole Cassels on Zach Bratina who was laid out on the ice for a few moments before returning to the play.
Battalion Head Coach Stan Butler wasn't afraid to question the hit.
"I thought both teams played extremely hard, it’s just unfortunate in overtime, I thought Bratina was hit in the boards and there wasn’t a call," said Butler during the post game press conference.
Jake Smith was arguably the Battalion's top player as he made 38 saves in the 1-0 loss.
"Jake Smith is the most underrated goalie in the league, it just kills me with these NHL teams who think you have to have a 6’2” plus goalie, let’s not grab a goalie who can stop the puck on a consistent basis and win," Butler said about his goaltender.
"Hopefully Jake will continue to play as well as he can and someone will give him a chance."
Generals Head Coach D.J. Smith felt his team got better as the game progressed.
“I thought we came out slow in the first, and sloppy in the second, I think we took the game over in the third period and wore their guys down. It was a tight game but we found a way,” said Smith.
The win was also very sweet for North Bay native and Generals netminder Ken Appleby, who got the hook in the third period of the 6-1 game one loss. His coach knew Appleby would respond in game two as he recorded a 33-save shutout.
"He pushes himself, he wants a contract, he wants to be a pro and he’s been very good at bouncing back and there was no doubt in my mind he was going to come out and give it everything he had," added the Generals bench boss about Appleby.
The win evens the best-of-seven series at 1-1 and breaks the Battalion five-game winning streak against the Generals that goes back to the 2014 Eastern Conference Final sweep.
The Generals came out strong and with a lot more bounce in their step as the physical play between the two big and hard hitting teams ramped up in the first period.
The best chance early for either team came close to 12 minutes in as Matt Mistele was robbed on a two on one feed from Michael Dal Colle as Jake Smith slid across laterally to make the shoulder save.
In the latter stages of the period, the Troops found themselves chasing the game as the Generals became the more physical team and created some frustration for the Battalion as Zach Bratina took a hitting from behind penalty at 16:01.
The Battalion killed off the penalty and ended up outshooting the Generals in the opening frame 10-8.
“It’s going to be a battle we are not playing bad but we have to step it up,” said Nick Moutrey during the OHL Tonight first intermission.
“They are a lot more physical and we need to match that in the final 40 minutes,” stated Moutrey.
Zach Poirier nearly opened the scoring about 7:30 into the second period as he got a feed in the slot from Mike Baird, whose shot slipped through the legs of Generals defender Will Petschenig and right onto the rookies’ stick. Poirier’s quick shot went off the trapper of Appleby.
During some four-on-four play, around the 12 minute mark, the game opened up as Michael Dal Colle was robbed on a quick one-timer and the Battalion countered with a partial breakaway for Moutrey, who was thwarted by the pad of Appleby as the big Battalion drove the net.
Late in the second, Gens defender Josh Brown rushed down the right wing and made a nifty move past Miles Liberati and lifted a quick shot that Smith had to be sharp with.
The Generals had the edge in shots in the middle frame, firing 15 shots at Smith while the Battalion lifted 12 Kenny Appleby’s way.
Generals defender Brown seemed frustrated with the 0-0 tie after 40 minutes of play.
“We were embarrassed and a had a bitter taste in our mouths,” stated Brown to OHL Tonight about the loss in game one.
“They shut it down pretty hard (in the first two periods), it’s like they have four goalies in front of their net. We need to keep chipping it in and hitting them hard,” added Brown during his second intermission interview.
The Generals had six shots in the first three minutes of the third period as the home side was looking to break the scoreless deadlock.
Mistele had a good chance on a scramble in the opening minute and less than two minutes later a falling Michael Dal Colle tried to slip a shot past the outstretched leg of Jake Smith who made the big stop.
Then, just past the 17 minute mark Stephen Desrocher took a shot with Hunter Smith open at the doorstep. Smith made the initial stop and Hunter Smith didn’t get much on the rebound that was scooped up by Jake Smith.
In the final minute, more tense moments, Cole Cassels, the trailer on a rush, ripped a shot from just outside the slot blocked by Brenden Miller and then Jake Smith made another key save on Dal Colle who tried to bury the rebound.
Shots favoured the Gens heavily in the third period as they outshot the Troops 15-10. The totals after regulation were 38-32 in favour of the Generals after 60 minutes.
Both teams only had one shot each in overtime. Game three is back in North Bay on Tuesday night at Memorial Gardens.
