Nick Paul salutes the crowd after his dramatic game winning goal midway through the 3rd period. Paul led all players with 5 goals in the series. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.
A dramatic third period comeback gave the hard-skating Battalion a 2-1 win and the Eastern quarterfinal series against a tough Niagara IceDog team Tuesday night at Memorial gardens.
The Troops took the best of seven series four games to three after being down 3-1. The Battalion will now face the Barrie Colts this Friday at the Gardens in game one of the Eastern semi-final.
The home team appeared nervous to start the game, which saw numerous opportunities by both teams stymied by the solid goaltending of North Bay’s Jake Smith and Niagara’s Brent Moran.
But it was the pesky IceDogs that struck first, when Eric Ming scored with less than two minutes left in the first period. That failed to quiet the sell-out crowd which immediately began chanting ‘Go Troops Go”.
During the second intermission, Coach Stan Butler’s message to his team was simple.
“I told them it would be a shame if you battled back so hard from a 3-1 deficit and didn’t play your best game in game seven.”
“The good thing is we didn’t play very well in the first two periods and we’re only down one goal, so if we can dig our way back and battle hard, we can win this hockey game.”
The message was heard loud and clear.
The Troops came out flying. Hard work by Zach Bratina led to a goal by Alex Henriksson who jammed it past the right side of Niagara goalie Moran at 6:05.
The crowd went crazy!
Then, less than four minutes later, Nick Paul blasted a shot over the shoulder of Moran to give the Troops their first lead of the game.
The crowd went crazier!
“It was a huge relief,” said the Dallas draft pick of what he called the number one goal of his career so far. “It was a great feeling.”
Paul’s goal, his 5th of the series, was the last whistle of the game as the teams played the last 10 minutes of the game without a stoppage.
The Dogs pulled their goalie with 30 seconds remaining, and came close, but couldn’t tie the score.
The game was remarkably clean with North Bay going penalty free, and Niagara picking up a too many men, and a double minor for high sticking.
Battalion owner Scott Abbott called the fan support “outstanding.”
“I was thrilled with the crowd. The ovation at the end was just unbelievable…like nothing we’ve ever experienced. I think the building was vibrating. It was terrific.”
Butler echoed Abbott’s assessment.
“I’m really happy for our seventh man…the fans of North Bay.”
Here we are on Tuesday night, the game is sold out, the people are into the game, they love hockey.”
“I mean whoever thought hockey wouldn’t work here must have been on another planet.”
Attendance was 4,249 and the 50-50 was a staggering $7,246.
First game of the semi-finals goes Friday in North Bay against the Barrie Colts. Puck drop is 7:30.
