It was almost a sense of déjà vu. The North Bay Battalion had a lead going into the third period, on the road against a tough Western Conference opponent.
And just like the night before, the Troops were unable to maintain that third period lead, falling 6-4 to the Windsor Spitfires, bringing their losing streak to nine straight games. They haven’t won since a Thanksgiving Monday, 7-5 victory over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
“I thought, going into the third we have a 4-1 lead and right now we just have to figure out how to put teams away,” says Battalion Assistant Coach Scott Wray.
“We’re a pretty young group and it is a process, and we have to figure that out.”
For a second straight night, North Bay straddled the line on a tough first period, going down 1-0 on a Cole Purboo (6) goal that was deflected in off a shot from Grayson Ladd at the point at 8:11.
Aside from that Christian Cicigoi was impressive between the pipes. In his first start since October 19th (6-3 loss in Flint) Cicigoi made nine saves in the opening frame on ten shots against, getting North Bay out of the first period trailing by just a goal as North Bay managed just three shots on net.
But in the second period, the offense just clicked and some veteran players led the way for the Troops for a four-goal outburst.
Luke Moncada (9) started it all while the Battalion was down to just four men. He scored a short-handed goal for the fourth time this season, getting set up on a breakaway chance by Captain Brad Chenier at 7:06. Moncada beat Goaltender Xavier Medina to tie the game 1-1.
Two minutes later, back at five on five play, it was Chenier’s turn to light the lamp and he did so, completing a two-on-one rush that had Brandon Coe skating in on the right wing side, going right near the crease and feeding it behind a sprawling defender to get it right onto the tape of Chenier, who tapped it in easily for a 2-1 North Bay lead.
At 12:09, the Spitfires turned the puck over to Chenier (7), inside the zone and he made them pay for it with his second goal of the game, and third point of the period, expanding the Troops lead to 3-1. That also meant the end of the night for Medina as Kari Piiroinen stepped in after that goal.
“There was a lot of nice things out there, like Brandon Coe getting back into the lineup, scoring a big goal and an assist,” says Wray.
Coe (4) got his goal at 15:57 of the second period to finish off the four goal outburst by the Troops, and getting the only one Piiroinen would allow in relief.
North Bay carried that 4-1 lead into the third, but out of the gates, the Spitfires looked determined. They had already overcome a four-goal deficit at home before, on opening night against Peterborough, the Spitfires were down 4-0 five minutes into the second period, but came all the way back to win 9-6.
And with their six-game winning streak hanging in the balance, the Spitfires went onto the attack.
“Maybe we’re a little tentative to put the game away, maybe a little nervous to lose the game instead of just going out there to play the same way and win that game,” says Wray.
Curtis Douglas (6) scored at 2:50. Will Cuylle (3) cut the lead to one at 8:12. Douglas (7) scored again at 10:46 to tie the game and Cuylle (4) took the lead at 16:03. All the while outshooting the Troops 23-4 in the third.
“Right now it’s frustrating for everybody, it’s frustrating for all 20 players on the ice, the coaching staff, the trainers. You know we don’t want to lose. It’s not fun,” says Wray.
The hardest pill to swallow about these last two losses is that North Bay knew they were going to have to play above the level that had played at in their last couple of games, just to keep it close. And for about 50 minutes of each game, they succeeded those expectations. At times they were the team dictating the play and the pace of the game.
“We’ve been in two games, on a tough road trip. If we would’ve said coming in that we would be leading going into the third in Windsor and be in a game in London tied late in the third, we would’ve said ok, we’ll take it,” says Wray.
“We got the saves we needed to get last night. We got the saves early on tonight, but they just chipped away. It just shows that you can’t squander leads against a team that’s a top ten team in Canada.”
And a team that has won in the past and continues to win now as the Spitfires move to 11-3-1 on the year, good for second in the West Division and the second most points overall in the Western Conference with 23. Just behind the Flint Firebirds at 24 points, while the Battalion fall to 3-15-0.
“That shows the difference right now, you’ve got a team over there that’s top ten, and we’re trending the other way,” says Wray.
“And we need to take the keys from today and watch the way they played. Their big players, played simple. Purboo just chips and goes to the net, Douglas goes to the net hard. They play a heavy game and they simplify it. So that’s one of the things we need to take from this game and just learn from it.”
They have another chance to put what they’ve learned into action when they take on the Sting in Sarnia for a 4pm start and the finale of this three games in three days road trip.
