Battalion knock off Wolves in convincing fashion

Four points from Matvey Petrov and two goals from Dalyn Wakely helped propel the North Bay Battalion to a 5-1 victory over the Sudbury Wolves.

“It was nice to make the score look like that,” explained Troops head coach Ryan Oulahen. “It looked probably a lot easier than what it was.

“I liked our start, I liked our first period, and then the second was kind of back and forth. I thought we let them off the hook a bit when we gave up a late one to make it 4-1, and then (Kyle) Jackson putting the game away. A great performance goaltender (Dom DiVincentiis) in net, really helped us get our feet going and for the most part, a really complete game.”

The Battalion got off to a quick start in the Nickel City as 2:23 in to the game, Wakely put the puck past Wolves netminder Kevyn Brassard. The goal pushed Wakely’s season total to 21, surpassing his total from his rookie season in 2021/22. A few moments later, fresh off his debut on the Frontline Podcast, Jacob Therrien (4) put the Troops up 2-0, which North Bay held going into the first intermission.

In the second, the Battalion got off to almost as quick a start as 2:27 into the middle frame, Matvey Petrov (21) wired one home from the faceoff dot in Sudbury’s zone. After some back and forth action that the coach alluded to, Wakely (22) potted another with 33 seconds left in the period. However, 14 seconds later, Ethan Larmand (10) found a way past DiVincentiis. After 40 minutes of play, the Troops led 4-1.

In the third, Kyle Jackson (28) iced it after a pass from Petrov fluttered over everyone’s head to find Jackson with a step on the Wolves defence.

Being a rivalry game, North Bay saw seven powerplays, and Sudbury had five. The two teams also combined for 22 total penalties and 50 penalty minutes.

“There’s a fine line,” explained Oulahen on the penalties. “You want to be disciplined, you want to stay out of the box as much as you can, but at the same time you want to stick up for your teammates and make sure everyone is safe.

“I thought we balanced that pretty well, but it’s always like that in this building when these two teams get together, there is heat and emotion which is fine, but it’s nice to get through that.”

The Battalion is back in action Thursday evening at home when they host the Mississauga Steelheads. The last time these two teams played on January 20th, the Steelheads came away with a 5-4 victory at home.

“It’s a good opportunity to bounce back against a team that had our number,” Oulahen said. “Looking forward to playing them at home where we can rest up and hopefully be ready for that one.”

You can catch the game live on the Frontline Gameday Broadcast YouTube channel starting at 6:50 p,m.