A day after accusing his team of being soft and calling on his players to step up or risk a locker room overhaul, Stan Butler’s boys responded to his call to action by decisively downing the Hamilton Bulldogs 7-1 at Memorial Gardens on Thursday night.
“Obviously hearing that motivates you,” Battalion captain Mike Amadio said of Butler’s comments earlier in the week. “You don’t take it lightly when somebody calls you soft, so that was definitely strong for him to say that; he obviously just wants us to work harder and that’s what we need to do for him.”
And they did just that.
Amadio emerged as the top Troop through the offensive flurry with a shorthanded goal and two assists for first star honours, while rookie Max Kislinger registered his first two-goal game of the season in a third star performance.
Meanwhile, two Troops scored their much-needed first tallies of the season, with a total of six different goalscorers getting in on the rapid-fire attack.
The Troops also looked more confident playing in front of veteran goaltender Jake Smith, who made 27 saves in his long-awaited return after a shoulder injury kept him out of the starting lineup for over a month.
That, plus six days’ rest, saw the North Bay boys bounce back after two lacklustre efforts last weekend, including a seven-goal shutout against the Mississauga Steelheads.
“I think it was our best game from an offensive standpoint on capitalizing on our chances,” Butler said after the game. “It was an important game to bounce back - you always find a little bit out about the character of your team when you get blown out in a game; it’s always interesting to see how your team comes back after a game like that."
The Troops, who have been guilty of playing to the level of their opponent through the first quarter of the season, didn’t fall victim to their habit on Thursday.
From the opening puck drop, the guys in green were noticeably more aggressive and channelled that energy into battles and races won.
It took almost an entire period, but top-liner Daniil Vertiy finally pounced on a power play opportunity, redirecting a Mike Amadio wrist shot from the top of the crease.
That late period tally translated into the second frame too, with Amadio scoring his league-leading fourth shorthanded goal just 21 seconds into the frame on a one-on-four rush, causing the crowd to erupt out of their silent slumber.
The Battalion also lead the league with 10 shorthanded markers on the campaign.
In his first game back from injury, Smith was his typical solid self, but couldn’t track the puck through a thick wall of traffic on a Hamilton power play midway through the frame. Bulldog defenseman Benjamin Gleason was credited with his fifth of the season for his floater from the point.
That was the lone bright spot for the Bulldogs though, as the Troops erupted for five unanswered goals in the second half of the fight.
The pace of play slowed to a halt thanks to a slew of late-period penalties, but after an officiating blunder and some sigh-worthy power play breakout attempts, the Troops picked it up again.
Defenceman Kyle Wood’s wrist appeared to be fine after teeing up one of the hardest one-time shots of the season for his first goal since his return three games ago.
Riding the wave of momentum, rookie Kislinger seemed surprised when the puck found its way to his stick in the Bulldog slot just minutes later, which he buried top cheese just moments before scoring his second of the game from nearly the exact same spot with an equally as impressive wrist shot.
At that point, Hamilton had clearly checked out and set their sights on their game against Sudbury on Friday night.
North Bay native Brett Hargrave scored his first goal as a Troop one minute later to round out the period, while Brett McKenzie added a short-side snipe one a one-on-one rush in the opening stages of the final period.
The Bulldogs would go on to generate some quality power play chances in the third, but the Troops stood tall in defending their fort.
“We’re in a situation where we need to play a certain way irrespective of who the goalie is and I thought, for the most part tonight, if they didn’t get all those power plays in the third period, we probably would’ve kept them close to 20 shots,” said Butler. “That’s the way we played last year and when you can do that, you have a chance to win all the time.”
The offensive flood matches North Bay’s season-high goal output, thanks in large part to secondary scoring that Butler has been waiting some time to trickle in.
“Given the amount of ice time these kids have gotten and we’re past the quarter pole [of the season], I think it’s important that we start getting some contributions from those guys, and tonight was a prime example where we did,” said Butler.
The win grows the gap between the Battalion and Bulldogs in the Easter Conference Standings, with the Troops now sitting five points clear of Hamilton for the eighth and final playoff spot.
In the battle of the veteran coaches, Butler pulls within one of Bulldog bench boss George Burnett’s all-time regular season head-to-head win advantage. The Hamilton coach now edges the Butler 25-23 in regular season matchups.
The confidence-boosting win is an ideal start to a busy weekend for the Troops, who hit the highway to fight the Niagara IceDogs on Friday night before returning home for a Sundayafternoon matinee against the Sudbury Wolves on Sunday.
Friday night’s divisional tilt against Niagara is an important measuring stick for a Troop team that has only recently started playing with a near-full complement and still sit only four points behind the IceDogs.
“Obviously we’re going to need a big effort tomorrow, they’re one of the hottest teams in our conference now,” Butler said of his Friday foe. “It will be a good test for us.”
