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Dom dominates as Troops serve Knights with shutout

'From start to finish, I really liked the way we played in control. We didn’t give up too much, and capitalized on our chances'

The North Bay Battalion welcomed the London Knights to town Sunday with a convincing 4-0 victory, their sixth in a row. The victory was also the 43rd of the season, tying the mark set by last year’s team, and one off the franchise mark of 44 set in Brampton in 2005-06. “Another solid effort by us, I think,” said head coach Ryan Oulahen. “From start to finish, I really liked the way we played in control. We didn’t give up too much, and capitalized on our chances so all in all, not only a big win today but a big weekend at an important time for us.” In the first, after a feeling out process by both teams, the Troops struck just over six minutes in as Anthony Romani (20) continued his hot streak. Since December 8th, the second year forward has potted 14 of his 20 goals, and added on eight assists for 22 points in 35 games playing, until recently, mostly fourth line minutes. Kyle McDonald (31) added on 28 seconds later with his third goal since signing an NHL contract with the Dallas Stars, beating Brett Brochu with a snipe over his glove hand. London came out flying in the second period, with thanks to a last second penalty taken by Brayden Hislop in the first, but despite that it was North Bay who came out with the lone goal in the middle frame. Kyle Jackson (30) found twine from the top of the right faceoff dot to move North Bay to a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes played. The third began with a slower pace to start before the intensity ramped up. Late in the period, Liam Arnsby (11) potted an empty net goal to seal it at 4-0. However, the Knights didn’t take too kindly to giving up that empty net goal, resulting in three fights breaking out, with one including Arnsby and maligned London star Logan Mailloux. In total, 10 penalties were called on the incident. Over the six game win streak, the Battalion have only allowed three goals against, including only one in the past five games. Both Dom DiVincentiis, who played today, and Charlie Robertson have registered two shutouts over that time. “It’s like a broken record, but we have really prided ourselves in those battles, being heavy on our sticks, realizing we are a big strong and skilled hockey team, and we keep the teams to the outside,” explained Oulahen. “Our goaltending has been outstanding as well, so when you add that altogether, it’s been nice knowing we can be sound back there.” North Bay will be back in action Thursday when they welcome the Peterborough Petes to town. “It’s going to be another good challenge for us,” stated Oulahen. “A lot of offensive weapons and it’s really good we have a week here with two games coming up so it allows us to rest, rehab and maybe we get some bodies back, maybe we don’t. “I’m hoping for some fresh, new faces Thursday.” You can catch that game live on the Frontline Gameday Broadcast YouTube channel.