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On this night, they were Cents-ational

Troops best Wolves, now four points behind Sudbury

Thursday, on North Bay Centennials Alumni Night, the crowd at Memorial Gardens let loose with their biggest cheers of the night before the puck was even dropped. Former North Bay Centennial Bill Lang, captain of the 1993-94 OHL championship team was greeted with a loud, appreciative ovation from the hometown faithful as he stepped onto the ice for the ceremonial puck drop.

Battalion Head Coach Stan Butler said post-game that, "The North Bay Centennials were a great organization with a lot of tradition, and a lot of great players. It's great to see Billy Lang back today. As an organization we really respect what they did for the city of North Bay, and anytime we can honour them we want to do that."

The North Bay Battalion, facing playoff-like games for the remainder of the season, made a statement by beating the Sudbury Wolves 6-3 with several regulars out of the lineup. Justin Brazeau, the game's first star had a goal and an assist and was a dominating physical force. Max Kislinger scored his first two goals of the season and Steve Harland had three assists in the win. Brett McKenzie also added a goal and an assist.

Brazeau, the hulking net-front presence on the re-tooled powerplay, has a serious shot at 20 goals this season, a development he credits to the chemistry amongst his linemates, saying "I've played with Potts the last two years, so we have good chemistry, and McMaster is a really fast, skilled guy and he knows where to get to so we can get him the puck and he knows how to dish it off, too."

Brazeau, who grew up in nearby New Liskeard, said that wearing the Centennials jersey was important to him and his teammates. "It's a great feeling, that was probably our best crowd of the year (so far). They loved their Centennials when they were here, and it was nice to get a win for them," said Brazeau.

The Battalion, without blueliners Riley Bruce, Cam Dineen, Brady Lyle and Eric Allair, called up Powassan Voodoos stalwarts Eric Nagy and Dayton Murray to help fill some of the void left by the missing regulars. Forward Daniel Walker had played extensive minutes at defence in recent games.

The Voodoos defencemen played as a pairing at times in the first period, and both had assists in the first, a strong showing on the bigger stage.

"It really helped having six D in the lineup. Two kids came up from Powassan, and I thought they played great," observed the head coach.

The cheers continued in the first period, as the Troops, dressed in those gorgeous black and yellow Cents jerseys, jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead.

The first to light the lamp was Zach Poirier, assisted by Adam Thilander and Adam McMaster. The powerplay goal was Poirier's ninth and gave the home team a 1-0 lead 6:48 in.

Brett McKenzie added to the Battalion's lead, scoring glove side past Jake McGrath. McKenzie's 19th came exactly two minutes after the first goal, with helpers going to Steve Harland and Dayton Murray.

With just under eight minutes to play, Max Kislinger scored his first of the season off of a slick pass from Harland. Call-up Nagy was also credited with an assist on the play.

The Wolves had a chance that was reviewed by the video judge, but it was found that the puck had hit the post, slid along the goal line, and underneath a supine Brent Moran.

Judging by the vocal attendees who cheered the Troops off of the ice, it was the best opening period the team had played on home ice all season.

The Battalion led 3-0 after one period, and 12-9 in shots.

The pace slowed considerably in the second period, with the home team seemingly content to defend the 3-0 lead (known as the worst lead in hockey).

With Zach Shankar and Poirier in the penalty box, the Wolves got on the scoreboard. David Levin got the goal, his 13th, assisted by Kyle Capobianco and Dmitry Sokolov, cutting the lead to 3-1.

With 2:04 to play in the second, the Wolves howled again. With Macauley Carson at home alone in front of Moran, he made no mistake, beating the North Bay starter to cut the deficit to 3-2. Carson's goal was assisted by Chandler Yakimowicz.

With 57 seconds left in the period, the Battalion restored their two-goal lead. Justin Brazeau sizzled a shot high over McGrath's blocker, assisted by Thilander and Kyle Potts. Brazeau's 12th gave the Troops a 4-2 lead heading into the third period.

North Bay led in shots after two periods 27-23.

Just 47 seconds into the third period, rookie Adam McMaster continued his strong play of late, scoring off of a brilliant pass from Brazeau to extend the lead to 5-2.

With Brazeau in the penalty box for goaltender interference, Sudbury's Levin scored his second of the game on a whistler that Moran thought he had stopped. The goalie raised his glove in the air, but the puck was behind him in the net. Ryan Valentini and Sokolov were credited with the assists on the goal, making it 5-3.

Moran made several solid saves, keeping his team ahead as the third period wound down.

Already missing goalie Zack Bowman, the Wolves dodged a bullet when McGrath was shaken up late in the third. McGrath, after several minutes speaking with the Wolves trainer, stayed in the game.

The Wolves pulled McGrath with more than two minutes remaining in favour of the extra attacker, and Kislinger promptly scored his second into the empty net, from Harland and McKenzie, making the final score 6-3.

"I was very happy with the game. I thought our guys played well as a group," said Butler.

The Battalion travel to Peterborough to face the Petes Saturday at 7:05 p.m., and have a quick turnaround for a Sunday afternoon meeting with the Saginaw Spirit. Puck drop at Memorial Gardens is 2 p.m.


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Stu Campaigne

About the Author: Stu Campaigne

Stu Campaigne is a full-time news reporter for BayToday.ca, focusing on local politics and sharing our community's compelling human interest stories.
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