NORTH BAY, Ont. – The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds snapped a five-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon, staying just far enough ahead of the North Bay Battalion to win 6-4. Rory Kerins had a pair of goals for the visitors while veteran Zack Trott (1+2) led the Greyhounds with a three-point game. North Bay’s Avery Winslow (1+2) had a three-point game of his own for the Troops before of a crowd of 2,210.
The bulk of the scoring came after the second intermission, with Shane Bulitka tying the game at two under a minute into the third. The Greyhounds quickly regained the lead with two goals in 66 seconds and added another to lead 5-2 before goals from Alex Christopoulos and Winslow, his first with North Bay since being acquired from London, brought the Troops back close once more.
Trott, the game’s first star, replied quickly after Winslow’s goal to complete the scoring, keeping with the game’s theme of North Bay giving up momentum soon after getting back into it. It was a trend in this afternoon’s game that was the main talking point in coach Ryan Oulahen’s post-game scrum.
“What killed us was the inability to sustain after getting a big goal.” said Oulahen. “We gave it up right away. It happened multiple times in the game where we score a goal, then they scored within 30 seconds. We just weren’t able to have that next really good shift to keep things going.”
“We’re struggling right now to have back-to-back really good performances. I’m not talking about the winning, I’m talking about playing our way for 60 minutes. We did it really well in Sudbury, but we need to find a way to be a more consistent hockey team.”
The Greyhounds, coached by former Battalion assistant John Dean, dominated the first period and held a 2-0 advantage through 20 minutes. It likely would have been larger if not for a number of posts hit by the visitors and some timely goaltending from Cameron Lamour, who stopped 27 of 33 shots overall. The remainder of the game was evenly played overall, but the Battalion’s inability to get that “next good shift” was the difference.
Winning 4-2 on the road at Sudbury on Friday night, splitting the home-and-home series with the Wolves, the Battalion was unable to pull out a victory against the Greyhounds and string together multiple wins, something the team has done twice so far this season. Sunday’s loss wraps up the season series between the northern rivals, with the Soo winning three of the four matchups.
Alex Christopoulos had a pair of powerplay goals for the Battalion, with his first getting the Troops on the board and the second coming off an excellent top –corner shot from the left circle. Oulahen was very complimentary of the young forward’s game when asked about his strong game Sunday.
“I love the way he can shoot the puck. We’re putting him in a spot here now on the powerplay because he has that clear ability. He’s worked extremely hard, he’s the type of guy who is going to shoot 100 pucks after practice. He’s scoring some now but he’s going to score a lot in this league, I think.”
Roster notes included Joe Vrbetic scratched for the Battalion with a minor injury, resulting in Christian Cicigoi being recalled from the Jr. A Powassan Voodoos to back up Lamour. The Battalion dressed 11 forwards and 7 defence, with Liam Arnsby and David Campbell also scratched for North Bay.
The Battalion welcomes another Western Conference opponent in the Guelph Storm to Memorial Gardens on Thursday night.
