The North Bay Battalion had their backs against the wall, but they fought back and Anthony Romani was the hero as he put home the overtime winner early in the second overtime as the Troops pulled out a 4-3 win in Barrie Thursday night.
"it is a big win and most importantly our guys deserved it," said Oulahen told the Frontline Podcast post game.
The win evens the best-of-seven series at 2-2 with game five back in the friendly confines of North Bay Memorial Gardens Saturday night.
However, things did not seem to go the Battalion way most of the night as early on the Colts got an early goal that deflected off Pasquale Zito less than 3 minutes in and then Cooper Matthews fooled Dom DiVincentiis on a quick wrister through traffic to make it 3-0 midway through the first.
Battalion captain Liam Arnsby jammed home a rebound late in the opening frame to cut the lead to 2-1 after 20 minutes.
Midway through the second, the Colts Tyler Savard converted a beautiful three-way passing play set up by Ethan Cardwell and Carter Lowe as the Colts regained the two-goal lead 3-1.
The Troops were 20 minutes away from falling behind 3 games to 1 in the series, but the deficit did not discourage them in the third.
"We told them they were down 3-1 but don't put too much pressure on yourself," said Oulahen.
"This isn't an elimination game, we just have to find a way to get our game back on track and when that happens, good things happen."
Kyle McDonald netted a huge power play goal just seven minutes into the third. Less than three minutes after that, Matvey Petrov converted on a quick release off a faceoff beating Anson Thornton to even things at 3-3.
After a scoreless first overtime, the Troops were able to end it in the first three minutes of double overtime as Romani chipped home a Dalyn Wakely feed past a bewildered Anson Thornton who faced 56 shots on the night.
"We got an outcome that was worthy of the performance that we did," added the Battalion head coach.
"It has been a heck of a series and it will continue to be one."
The game marked the return of Battalion defender Tnias Mathurin, who has missed most of the season due to injury.
"He hasn't played so to jump into a playoff game is a tough task," said Oulahen.
"Then you look late and the third and into overtime and you settle in and you are just doing your thing."
Dom DiVincentiis finished the night with 27 saves to keep his team in the series.
Game five goes Saturday night at 7 p.m. at North Bay Memorial Gardens.
