Two home games and two home wins for the North Bay Battalion after the Troops defeated the rival Sudbury Wolves 3-2 on Monday.
“We found a way to get two points today,” head coach Ryan Oulahen stated post game.
“Overall we weren’t pleased with how we came out once again here at home, and I think we will have to find ways to improve on that moving forward.”
As the head coach alluded to, the Troops found themselves down 1-0 midway through the first period thanks to a short-handed goal by Wolves captain Jack Thompson. “It was something we talked about before,” said Oulahen.
“We knew Sudbury was super aggressive and that was something we were trying to prepare for and we have to fix that mistake for sure.” In the second period, Josh Currie tied up the game with his second goal of the season. However, before the end of the period, North Bay found themselves down 2-1 thanks to Alex Assadourian’s first OHL goal.
In the third, the Battalion found the back of the net twice, once on the powerplay on a tap-in goal by Simon Rose after a nice pass from Dalyn Wakely. Later, Brandon Coe netted the game-winner after he had many chances in the game.
“He kept at it,” explained Oulahen on Coe.
“I thought Brandon had an unbelievable game and he was really consistent from the start. He really deserved one and he had so many chances, but we found a way on a great play and a nice pass by (Kyle) Jackson.”
Battalion netminder Joe Vrbetic also continued his solid play since returning from Montreal, stopping 31 of 33 shots on goal.
“It was a fun game for sure,” Vrbetic said.
“There was some moments in the first where I thought I had to make some good saves, but at the end of the day we all played well.”
“Our goal today was to send a message and show them (Sudbury) who we are and what they are going to face eleven more times.” “We all know how good Joe can be,” the head coach said.
“Joe is world class and he showed it here that he can be one of the best goaltenders in the league and it was a good performance for him.” “He really was unbelievable to keep us in it.”
The Troops are back in action on Friday when they host the Mississauga Steelheads.
Puck drop is at 7 p..m
