A trio of Russian snipers made their presence felt at Memorial Gardens this Thanksgiving, scoring early period goals en route to a 7-3 win over the Battalion.
Nikita Korostelev struck first following back to back penalties by North Bay in the opening minutes. Shortly after Pavel Gogolev notched his first of two in the game, after he was left with plenty of room in front of the Battalion net. The other came from Semyon Der-Arguchinstev later in the game.
“It’s tough when the opposing team gets a 5-on-3 in the first minute and a half and then they scored on that. They built their momentum there. We just had breakdowns and allowed them to score,” shared Battalion head coach Stan Bulter after the game.
Justin Brazeau made up for his early penalty by cutting the lead to one, scoring his first goal of the season on the power play. Then Cam Dineen kept the momentum going nodding his fifth of the season tying the game at two. Peterborough’s Zach Gallant would reignite his team after scoring from a very tight angle on netminder Mat Woroniuk.
Coach Butler said he kept his young netminder in for the entire game to give him a chance to show his abilities. “
He was injured a lot last year and we have to figure out where he is as a goalie, we thought today was a good day because Peterborough is a very good team,” added Butler about Woroniuk who stopped 24 of the 31 shots he faced.
Only three penalties were called in the second, all against the home squad. That led to Gogolev’s second marker at the beginning of the period. The Petes continued to pour on the pressure and looked in cruise control for most of the second. The Battalion ended on a high note with three scoring chances in the final two minutes, including a wide-open net opportunity for Justin Brazeau, who could not get his stick on the puck in time.
“I thought he played pretty well. He probably could have had a couple more too. The pucks didn’t go in for him but it’s a promising thing to see him get that goal,” added Butler when asked about Brazeau’s play.
The only bright spot in the third was Andy Baker’s highlight reel goal as skated full speed from center ice and tricked Hunter Jones with a quick backhand.
The Battalion have now lost three straight after beginning the season with three wins.
The Troops are back in action this Thursday for Pink in the Rink Night when they host Ottawa at 7 p.m.
