The North Bay Battalion is moving on after a convincing 5-1 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs.
The Troops won the best-of-seven series 4-1.
“I’m extremely proud of our group here,” head coach Ryan Oulahen said. “We played a really good hockey game. They made pushes at different times of the game, but so proud of our guys.
“In terms of the adversity that we’re going through and the things we’re going through, we’ve had guys stand up, rose to the challenge and it was a total team effort. So proud of them.”
The coach was also complimentary of Kingston.
“We knew how dangerous of a hockey team they were. Lines one through four they can roll. Really good, experienced defencemen. I think they’re underrated in terms of how old they are, how mature they are, how deadly they are.
“If it wasn’t for the first 15 games of the season, they’re probably a top four team in the conference. But you want to play good opponents and that gets us ready for the next round.”
Both teams, although not for a lack of effort, played the first period to a stalemate. However, in the final few minutes Jax Dubois picked up a penalty for tripping.
At the start of the second, on the same powerplay the Battalion struck. The puck bounced around from behind the net, through the air and Justin Ertel (2) did a better impression of a baseball player than anyone on the Blue Jays, batting the puck past Mason Vaccari. Halfway through the second Ertel (3) struck again. This time, the Dallas Stars prospect tipped in a slow moving Wyatt Kennedy point shot that beat Vaccari blocker side.
“It’s a good feeling, and it was nice to see our fans come out tonight,” Ertel, recently signed by the Dallas Stars stated.
“Couple of lucky bounces tonight, and nice that they went in.”
“He’s been unbelievable for us since day one,” Oulahen added. “Monster game today. He put our team on his back a bit, and those were two massive goals for us today.”
Continuing the momentum, Paul Christopoulos (1) was the beneficiary of a slick Andrew LeBlanc pass, and the stay-at-home defender flashed his offensive muscles, beating Vaccari up high. The goal gave North Bay a 3-0 lead heading into the third period.
In the third frame, Kingston decided to try some rough stuff, taking a swipe at goaltender Mike McIvor after he had covered the puck. With an ensuing powerplay, Ty Nelson (3) unleashed his patented rocket from the point, beating Vaccari over his glove.
Adding on was Owen Van Steensel (2), who whacked in a pass from Jacob Therrien. Van Steensel found the bouncing puck in the crease and the 41-goal scorer in the regular season made no mistake.
Jacob Holmes (2) broke the shut out bid for McIvor 15:02 into the third, and that made the final 5-1.
For his part, McIvor made 22 saves in the win and has looked impressive since coming in for relief of an injured Dom DiVincentiis in game two.
“He played great,” assessed Oulahen. “I think we’re doing a good job in front of him, letting him see things.
“I see the confidence continue to grow in him.”
North Bay will enjoy some time off now to rest. As of writing, they don’t yet know who they will play in the next round.
“It shrinks,” Oulahen said on the playoff pool. “There will be four good teams just on our side not playing hockey. No matter who we play, it’s going to be a challenge for us and we have to continue to get better.
“We’re going to have to rest and recover and get ready for round two.”
