Battalion take first meeting against Wolves

A two-goal effort by Josh Bloom helped the North Bay Battalion overcome a slow start over the rival Sudbury Wolves 7-4.

“It feels good to get the two points,” Troops head coach Ryan Oulahen stated. “Not a perfectly played game by any means, but opportunistic when we needed to be and it’s a tough building to win in. We’re going to take the two points and head home.”

It was the Wolves who struck first in the game as Nick DeGrazia (8) pounced on a turn over to head in alone on Battalion netminder Charlie Robertson. Just over a minute later, Michael Podolioukh buried a feed from Jacob Therrien for his first of the season. However, the Wolves bounced back a few minutes later with goals from Devin Mauro (1) and Nathan Villeneuve (2) to put Sudbury up 3-1 after the first.

The Battalion had a complete 180 effort in the second as they scored three unanswered goals, including the two Bloom (9, 10) knocked in past Wolves goalie Nate Krawchuk. Dalyn Wakely (13) also added on with a snipe over the shoulder of Krawchuk to give the Battalion the 4-3 lead after 40 minutes of play.

“It’s nice to see it,” Oulahen said on the turn around. “We didn’t really say too much to then this time around, they knew the expectations. If you look at it from Sudbury’s point of view, we knew they were going to be ready for this.

“We had their number a bit last year for them, and this was a big game for them so I wasn’t surprised with how it started, and I knew our guys were going to make a push so I was happy to see that.”

The Troops continued their offensive ways as Matvey Petrov (10) scored off a breakaway. David Goyette (15) gave Sudbury some life, but goals from Arnsby (6) and Wakely (14) sealed the deal for North Bay.

“I thought we played with speed,” Bloom said to Eastlink TV post game. “I thought the the first period was kind of slow for us and we found a way to  respond in the second and third. That’s a huge two points in a division game.” 

“He’s somebody that I have known for awhile, and what he brings, the speed, the tenacious environment, what he brings to our locker room and the skill set that you’re starting to see,” Oulahen said on Bloom. “He’s starting to get comfortable, make more plays and he’s a huge addition and he really got us going tonight.”

The Battalion are back in action Friday when they travel to the Likestone City to take on the Kingston Frontenacs.