Battalion withstand Attack in preseason play

The North Bay Battalion have found themselves winners of two in a row following a tight 2-1 shootout victory over the Owen Sound Attack, Sunday.

The Troops have now improved to a 2-1 win/loss record in preseason play.

“I honestly don’t care about the results,” said head coach Ryan Oulahen shortly after the victory. “Just looking at how we’re playing, I was really happy with yesterday’s game, and today I knew was going to be a task playing back to back.

“I thought we ran out of gas, but we’ve made some gains since our first game for sure. More structure and things like that, and if we narrow in on that, this will be a really good week for the guys sticking around with a lot of one on one time and get everybody up to speed.”

It was Owen Sound who got off to a quick start as Kaleb Lawrence (1) managed to convert on a cross ice pass from Declan Waddick, beating a stretched Dom DiVincentiis early in the first.

It wouldn’t be until just over halfway through the second that another puck found the back of the net, as free agent addition Stef Forgione (2) beat Carter George to tie the game at one. The goal represented Forgione’s second in as many days, as he had scored in Saturday’s game against the Ottawa 67’s. Coupled with some strong play from Carter Kostuch in the period, Oulahen was impressed by both players.

“Those two guys had some jump today, and some energy. It was good to see.”

With no overtime, Ty Nelson scored the lone goal in the shootout to give the Battalion the unofficial victory.

In the effort, DiVincentiis, the reigning OHL Goaltender of the Year, made 54 saves on 55 shots.

“Dom is Dom,” explained Oulahen. “You wouldn’t expect anything less and he was fantastic. It’s good to see him get into that game and play that way. He’s going to get confidence and go off to (Winnipeg Jets) camp.

“(Goaltending) is a depth for us and it’s a strength for us. That, added to all the defence we have, we feel like we’re more built from the back end out this year.”

With a lot of veteran players heading off to NHL camps this week, the Battalion will enjoy a slower week, as their next and final preseason game will come September 23 for a rematch with the Attack in Owen Sound.