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Brazeau turns the trick in win over Colts

Christian Propp gets revenge beating his former team

Justin Brazeau netted a hat trick, including the game-winner, as the North Bay Battalion surged passed the Barrie Colts 5-2 in an entertaining afternoon affair at the Gardens.

The Troops led the attack the entire game and never trailed. Luke Burghardt scored the opening goal and assisted on North Bay’s second goal in the first period, as Adam Thilander gave the Battalion the lead back while on the power play.

Brazeau would then take over with a goal in the second and a pair in the third period, where the Battalion outshot the Colts by a whopping 27-6 differential.

“Justin is a unique story. He’s a late-round pick; he’s come in and become a very good hockey player. It just shows kids from the North, that there is a spot in the league for Northern kids and here’s a kid out of Liskeard who’s worked really hard and turned himself into one of the top players in the league,” said Battalion head coach Stan Butler.

After beating the Colts on home ice in their home opener, the Battalion had lost 3 straight against their division rivals. However, the Troops took advantage of Barrie team playing its third game in three days.

“We’ve had some tough losses to them this year. I really liked the way our guys played from start till finish. I thought they played a strong game in all three zones,” added Butler.

The coach also credited the play of his newly acquired goalie, Christian Propp, who took to the ice for just his third home game and against his former team. Propp did get some help from his net as the Colts hit the post five times in the game. However, he made several game-saving stops, including a high glove snag midway through the second. It allowed the Battalion to keep the lead going into the third period. After the game, Propp preferred to shift the credit to his defense. “They’re playing so well in front of me. I’ve never seen guys love blocking shots so much and from my point of view it just makes my job so much easier when guys are laying it all on the line for me.”

Another promising statistic was North Bay’s effectiveness on the power play. It managed to score three power play goals on Saturday, matching its total when they beat Mississauga earlier in the week.

“We got to keep winning games, we did have a really tough schedule, not that it’s easier now, we just played the first place team in our division, but its more reasonable than it was early on,” added Butler.

The score would also have been more lopsided had it not been for the spectacular play of Barrie netminder Leo Lazarev. He faced a total of 48 shots and stopped two breakaways and penalty shot in the third period.

North Bay gets some much-needed rest this week and is back on the ice this Thursday against Hamilton.

The Battalion remain in third place in the Central Division and are now 11 points behind first place Barrie.