The North Bay Battalion brought back memories of the early years North Bay Battalion teams as they went toe-to-toe with the defending OHL champs in a 7-5 home opening victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs.
It was a loud crowd of 3,129 that cheered loudly in the impressive season opening win.
Adam McMaster led the charge with 2 goals and 1 assist, while Christian Propp made some timely saves to keep the Troops ahead.
"It is a process for me, I haven’t been that good my first two years so I worked really hard in the summer and I am hoping it is going to pay off later," said McMaster about his two-goal opening night performance.
Matthew Struthers added a pair of goals, including an empty netter.
While head coach Stan Butler was pleased with the two points, he was concerned about some of the defensive play that led to a number of scoring chances, especially for the Bulldogs duo of Arthur Kaliyev and Brandon Saigeon who combined for eight points between them.
"It was a very up and down game," noted Butler.
"Offensively at times I thought we played very well but defensively I did not think we were very good tonight. We really gave them a lot of opportunities and their one line really dominated when they were on the ice and we have to deal with that."
Butler credited his netminder for the win.
"I thought he was phenomenal tonight and I don’t know what we would have done without him," Butler stated about his goalie who made 28 wins in the home opening victory.
The Bulldogs struck first on a turnover at the Battalion blueline. Brandon Saigeon fed Arthur Kaliyev on a two on one who tapped it past Christian Propp on the first Bulldogs shot and a 1-0 lead less than five minutes in.
Battalion replied less than two minutes later as Daniel Walker chipped a shot over the shoulder of Nick Donofrio from the side of the net to make it 1-1.
A minute later the on a turnover the trio of Chenier, Struthers and Brazeau make a nice three-way passing play but Donofrio made a big glove save.
Battalion kept the momentum going and late in the opening frame got a break as Braden Henderson through a puck at the net and it deflected off Adam Mcmaster and past Donofrio for a 2-1 lead with just over a minute left in the period.
McMaster’s next tally was a little nicer deflection as he redirected a nice shot-pass from Payton Vescio through Donofrio for a 3-1 Battalion lead at 8:28 of the second period.
Two minutes later, the Troops continued to press and another great passing play resulted in a goal. Justin Brazeau fed rookie Cameron Peters in the slot and he tipped it past Donofrio for a 4-1 lead.
The Bulldogs got one back on a four on three powerplay and Saigeon was the goal scorer lifting a quick shot from right faceoff circle over the shoulder of Propp which made it 4-2.
Christian Propp kept the two-goal lead with a handful of huge stops about seven minutes into the third, one a point blank glove save off a Tim Fleischier shot and another on a great pad save turning away Matthew Strome.
The Bulldogs pulled within one on a nice rush as Kaliyev fed Saigeon in the slot and he beat Propp which made it 4-3 at 10:13.
But despite the goal Propp made another couple fabulous saves moments later to keep the Troops up by a goal.
The Troops responded soon after Chenier was stopped on a breakaway Brazeau fed a pass in the slot to Matthew Struthers who slipped a quick shot into the open cage for a 5-3 lead.
The Troops added more insurance as Nick King lifted a shot past Donofrio which made it 6-3.
Nicolas Mattinen closed the gap to 6-4 with a late power play tally which made it 6-4.
The Bulldogs kept it coming with the net empty, as Kaliyev made it 6-5 with just over a minute left in regulation.
Struthers finished off the scoring with 15 seconds left on an empty net breakaway goal.
The Battalion will pack their bags and head West for Sault Ste. Marie where they will face the 2018 OHL finalist Greyhounds at the Essar Centre Saturday night.
Local Bulldogs
The loss was a disappointment for a number of local fans cheering on the Bulldogs contingent of North Bay area players. Locals Jake Gravelle, Ben Garagan and Zachary Jackson all took regular shifts for the Bulldogs while Dylan D'Agostino was a healthy scratch and goaltender Zachary Roy watched the Troops score 7 on his partner Donofrio.
