Slow start costly for Troops against the speedy Hounds

For the second night in the row, the North Bay Battalion got off to a sluggish start. And for the second night in a row it cost them.

The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds stormed out to a 3-0 first period lead and never looked back in a 5-1 victory over the Battalion on Thursday night at Memorial Gardens.  

The loss comes on the heels of Wednesday’s 5-0 loss in Sudbury.  

“I thought we started slow, it is the second game in a row that we do not start off on time and they are a skilled team and it was too big of a hole to dig out of,” stated Battalion assistant coach Adam Dennis during the post game media conference.

Justin Brazeau had the lone marker for the Troops on a second period power play.   

That’s now only two goals for the Troops in their last three as they fall for the third straight game after going unbeaten in regulation time for 11 straight prior to Sunday’s 2-1 loss in Kingston.  

Dennis believes the leaders on the team need to step up.

“We do a pre-scout on every game and at this point it becomes a little bit more about our leadership group to make sure the group is ready to go,” said Dennis.  

“When it happens yesterday in Sudbury you can say it is a one off, but when it happens on back to back nights you have got to address and it is something we need to fix.”  

The Greyhounds started to build their momentum by capitalizing on a turnover by Nick King in the neutral zone.  Keeghan Howdeshell stole the puck and ripped one off the iron and then Mac Hollowell, who was named the game's first star, followed up with a shot through traffic that beat Propp.   

The Hounds continued to carry the play and about 12 minutes in, former Barrie Colt Jaden Peca took a quick feed in the slot and beat Propp which made it 2-0.

Less than a minute later, the Hounds again made it look easy with some nifty passing courtesy of Team Canada star Morgan Frost and finished off by Roman Pucek who beat Propp with a backhand while walking into the slot.  

Early in the second the Battalion catch the Hounds on the long change as Luke Moncada and Luke Burghardt came in on a clear 2 on 0 with Moncada selecting to shoot and Hounds goaltender Matthew Villalta shut the door.  

The Battalion finally got on the board midway through the second after an effective power play zone entry rush by Matthew Struthers, Brazeau picked up his quick pass on the right side and Brazeau rifled his 42nd of the season over the shoulder of Matthew Villalta which made it 3-1.  

With the Troops shorthanded near the five minute mark, the hard working Moncada stripped Hollowell of the puck and tried to deke around Villalta who made the key pad save.

A minute later Burghardt fed Brazeau for what appeared a textbook perfect back door play but Villalta slid across to make another brilliant pad save.  

Propp was equal to the task in the final minute as he made a couple huge stops down low including one on Hollowell to keep it at 3-1 as the pace increased in the final 10 minutes of the second period.

Ryan Roth added a dagger near the seven minute mark of the third period which made the score 4-1 and then the Hounds added another as Zach Trott slipped one past Propp on a power play in the final minute to make it 5-1 your final.  

The win also special for John Dean. The former North Bay Centennial player and North Bay Battalion assistant coach, wins his first game back in Memorial Gardens as head coach of the Hounds.   

The Battalion loss leaves the Troops in sixth spot in the Eastern Conference. The job doesn't get any easier Sunday as the Battalion host the only team in the East ahead of the Greyhounds, and that is the London Knights.  Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.