The North Bay Battalion coaching staff had come into the week preaching the need for its young team to play a full 60-minute game. And they came very close to accomplishing that on Saturday night in Owen Sound, coming up just short in a 6-3 loss to the Attack, who have now won six of their last seven games, en route to taking the top spot in the OHL’s Midwest Division.
The Troops charged out of the gates in the third period to cut the deficit from 4-1 to 4-3, but just weren’t able to complete the comeback as Aidan Dudas (4) swept through the slot on a set up pass from North Bay native Brady Lyle, and put the puck under the glove side of Goaltender Joe Vrbetic at 15:13 to put the game out of reach for North Bay (3-11-0-0).
It came after back to back goals by the Battalion in the early stages of the final period. Luke Moncada (7) scored at 6:29 and then Harrison Caines (3) got one less than a minute later at 7:06 making it a 4-3 score at that point.
“We got down 3-0 early, but after that, we really competed hard,” says Battalion Assistant Coach Adam Dennis.
“We tied the second and won the third period against a really good team and it’s something we haven’t seen in the last couple of games where we get down a few and have that push. It’s really promising for our group and we were in the game, we had a chance to win, which is what you want and the next step is putting it over the top.”
The Battalion was going up against a rookie netminder in Nick Chenard who was making just his third career start and early on he was steady, making nine saves in the first period. He stopped 30 shots overall in securing his second career victory, but Mitchell Russell figured him out in the second period at 2:11, scoring his fifth goal of the season.
“I think I’ve been given a lot of opportunity here,” says Russell for the success he’s had so far this year that puts him and the top of the Battalion points lead with 14 through 14 games played. He’s also now on a four-game point streak and has four goals and six assists over his last eight games played.
“I have to credit my linemates, they have been really helping me and we’re hoping to keep it rolling.”
Another guy who’s been consistent to this point is Luke Moncada who recorded another goal tonight. His seven goals are the second-most on the team, behind Matthew Struthers eight. It’s one back of his total from last year and two off his career-high of nine back in 2017-18.
“It’s nice to see, especially from those two guys who play the game so responsibly, it’s nice to see them get rewarded offensively,” says Dennis about the point production from Russell and Moncada.
“Everything they get is through hard work and it’s nice that it’s paying off and it sets a good example for the rest of our guys.”
The Battalion will be looking for that hard work over a full 60 minutes going forward as this time around it was a tough start to the game that put them in a hole they couldn’t pull themselves out of.
Daylon Groux (6) kicked off the game with a goal at 1:11 of the first period, followed by Lyle (3) doubling the lead at 5:11 and before the period was up, Griffin Wilson (1) expanded that to 3-0.
After Russell’s goal to cut the lead to 3-1 in the second, Matthew Philip (5) regained the three-goal advantage at 2:11.
But the Battalion generated chances throughout the rest of the period, although they wouldn’t be able to get another passed Chenard until their pair of goals in the third.
“The guys have to start learning that they can hang with these teams,” says Dennis.
“It was evident, we go down 3-0 and it’s a different game after that, we play a much different game and we win the rest of the game. So that’s what we have to take the positives from and we have to understand that when that 60-minute game does come, it’s going to be a great feeling to know we’ve gained that success that we have been working so hard for.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by the players as well, “I think we played good for a period and a half and it shows that we can play,” says Russell.
“But in this league, we have to play for a full 60 minutes or we aren’t going to get the results we want. We have a young team and so being consistent is really important but I think for our group we just have to stay positive and battle together.”
