Playing catch up is not just the trend on the ice for the North Bay Battalion lately; they are now looking up from the outside of the playoff picture as the season begins to near the midway point of the 2018-19 OHL campaign.
With an opportunity to close the gap against a team just ahead of them, the Troops failed to capture a point in a seventh straight outing, falling 5-1 to the Hamilton Bulldogs, at First Ontario Centre on Sunday afternoon.
“You’re running out of time to right the ship, the time is now to fix it and what better way to go in to the break than with a good response,” said Battalion Assistant Coach Adam Dennis.
North Bay has been looking for that response of the last few weekends. After losing three straight road games the previous weekend, the Troops knew they were in tough against Kitchener, Niagara and Hamilton.
On both Friday and Saturday night, the Troops went into the third period tied against their opponents, after overcoming first period deficits.
The Rangers and IceDogs were just a step ahead in the final frame, and kept North Bay in the loss column.
But despite the losses, as the weekend progressed so did the play, and the 9th place Battalion (11-18-1-1) felt that going into Sunday they had a chance to catch up to the 7th place Bulldogs (15-14-2-1) whom they had already defeated twice this season.
Tim Fleischer opened the scoring at 6:19 of the first period. Matthew Strome took a shot which pulled Goaltender Christian Propp away from the posts and even though it looked like he had a glove over top of the puck, Fleischer dug at it, got it loose and put it behind the Troops netminder.
And after going down by a goal in the first period, the game was still within reach until Arthur Kaliyev (23,24) scored on back to back power play chances before the five minute mark of the frame. With the home side Bulldogs up 3-0, North Bay had a few chances to score over the next 35 minutes of play, but the overall effort, according to the coaching staff just was not there.
“I thought it was a disappointing one,” says Dennis.
“I didn’t think we had a full team show up, I thought there were a few guys that put in some ok efforts, I thought for the most part though that was a pretty flat effort by our group.”
Battalion Captain Justin Brazeau was able to spring free on a couple of partial breaks into the zone, but was denied by Bulldogs goaltender Nick Donofrio, who made 22 of 23 saves, earning his 8th win of the season. Brad Chenier also had a clear breakaway in the second period, but again Donofrio, kept the door shut on what was Chenier’s fifth solo attacking rush of the weekend.
The Battalion have not played with a lead since November 23rd when they defeated Mississauga 5-2. However, the effort to play with top teams over that stretch had been an encouraging sign, including the two games to start this past weekend against Kitchener and Niagara.
“They showed that when they play the right way, and put in the right effort they can compete against anybody,” says Dennis.
“I thought in a game we really needed tonight, our effort was flat and wasn’t where it needed to be.”
Matthew Strome (11) would increase the Bulldogs lead to 4-0 with his goal at 8:38 of the second period. It was the third goal for the home side before the mid-way marker of the second frame and it just about sealed the deal for Hamilton.
They would outshoot North Bay 13-8 in that second period and largely control the pace of play, especially with the opportunities afforded to them by the officials. North Bay was sent to the box three times in the second, with one coincidental minor as well.
North Bay would get a grand total of three power play opportunities in the game, one in the first and two in the third. It’s just the third time in the last 14 games that the Troops have sent their power play on the ice more than twice, but they weren’t able to convert on any of those chances against the Bulldogs.
North Bay was able to find the back of the net, ending Donofrio’s chance at a shutout, was at 7:22 of the third. Brazeau had the puck along the goal line and fed in into the slot where Struthers directed it home.
But Strome (12) finished off the scoring sheet with his second of the game at 12:57 of the third.
North Bay will get to step back onto home ice for an OHL game on Thursday, when they host the Kitchener Rangers. It will be their first home game since a 6-2 loss to Guelph on November 25th. By the time the puck drops against the Rangers it will have been over a month since the Troops have won in North Bay, going back to a 4-3 win against Niagara on November 10th. The Troops were 10-8-0-1 after that win, their largest margin over .500 this season. They have gone 1-10-1-0 since that point.
After the Rangers, North Bay play a home and home series against the Barrie Colts. Not just their division rivals but at this point in the year, they are the team North Bay is chasing for a spot in the post-season.
“It’s the point of the year where every point is crucial,” says Dennis.
“No matter who we play we have to go in with the attitude that we have to bring in some points and I think that this weekend coming up is going to be big, and every game there after we’ll have to do our best to bring some points home.”
