Something had to give at Memorial Gardens Thursday night, as either slow starts at home (2-4-0-0) for the Battalion or on the road (1-4-0-0) for the Oshawa Generals would look a little more respectable come night's end.
After 65 minutes of often exciting play did not produce a winner, the game went to a shootout. Cam Dineen scored glove-side, and Oshawa's Anthony Cirelli did the same. Steve Harland hit the post, and Mitchell Vande Sompel shot one into Brent Moran's pads.
Powassan Voodoos call-up Andy Baker had the puck slide off his stick and was stopped by Jeremy Brodeur, but Moran picked him up at the other end with a save on Eric Henderson. Brett McKenzie beat Brodeur to give the Troops a 2-1 advantage, and Oshawa's Kenny Huether could not respond, giving the Troops a 5-4 shootout win.
"I'm happy that we're 3-4 at home now, I was getting a little concerned. We've always had a real good record here at our rink, and that's something we'd like to keep," said Battalion Head Coach Stan Butler
The Battalion, who have won two straight at home, and overall, are now (7-6-0-0), one point behind the Sudbury Wolves for first in the Central Division.
"It's a positive sign that the guys didn't quit. Oshawa is a real hard-working team and our guys had to," do the same, "to stay with them tonight," said Butler.
Overage goaltender Moran made 40 saves in regulation and overtime for the win. The quiet leader in the dressing room was pleased with the way his teammates rallied back from 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3 deficits for the win.
Asked about his approach to the shootout, Moran replied that he does not keep a book on any player. He approaches each player the same, saying, "I don't do a lot of video on tendencies of players, I trust my instincts."
After 6:47 of play, Oshawa Generals forward Grayden Gottschalk won the puck along the right wall in the Battalion zone, stepped into the circle and beat Brent Moran with a rising shot on the glove side. The unassisted goal was Gottschalk's first career OHL marker.
Midway through the first, shots on goal were 11-3 in favour of Oshawa. North Bay's fourth shot came when Zach Poirier took a pass in the high slot and wristed a hard drive on net, but Generals goalie Brodeur (son of winningest NHL goaltender Martin) made a blocker save.
Butler knows which line on his team drives possession and offence, and he went to the McKenzie-Harland-Maurizio Colella line often Thursday. One of the best sequences the trio had came with just under three minutes to play. After keeping the puck deep and pressuring the Generals, a Battalion shot missed the open net, and then Brodeur was forced to make a sprawling stop on McKenzie.
Undaunted, Oshawa earned a 2-on-1 that resulted in Kyle MacLean scoring his first of the season off a Domenic Commisso feed, past a helpless Moran to increase the lead to two.
"I thought we played pretty well early," said Butler, "but the first two goals were both mistakes that we made."
Shots on goal were 17-10 Generals after one period of play.
The Troops started the second period off intending to make a game of it. Brad Chenier found himself all alone in front of the Generals net 3:33 into the period, and made no mistake, roofing the puck to beat a startled Brodeur and cut the lead to 2-1. Chenier's third was assisted by Zach Shankar and Daniel Walker.
Butler held his fourth line in high regard Thursday after the game, saying, "They scored a goal, Walker was playing centre for the first time this year, and it was Andy Baker's first OHL game. Fifteen goals in 16 games (for Baker with Powassan) ain't bad in any league."
Baker has signed an OHL contract that will allow him to play as many as 10 games this season, to help fill the void left by Adam McMaster, who is representing Canada at the Under-17 World Challenge.
A crushing bodycheck by Riley Stillman on Harland seemed to wake up the visitors. Shortly after, Shankar took the first penalty of the night, a high-sticking minor.
Just :46 into that powerplay, the Generals' Jack Studnicka sniped his fifth of the campaign from the right faceoff circle. Assists on the goal went to team scoring leader Cirelli and Vande Sompel.
Just after the goal, it was the Battalion's turn with the man advantage. Adam Thilander fell taking a pass inside the Oshawa blueline but made a nice play to keep the puck alive, giving his team a chance on the powerplay, but they could not convert.
Stillman, quickly becoming a crowd target, sat in the penalty box next after boarding Chenier heavily into the end boards.
Much to the fans' delight, Stillman spent only :19 in the box, as Harland muscled in his third of the season from Colella and Thilander, making it 3-2 Generals.
At 18:25, Dineen scored on a deke off an energetic rush, bringing the Gardens fans to their feet, and tying the game 3-3. Assisting on the goal was McKenzie.
Shots on goal after two periods favoured Oshawa 30-23.
Troops came out flying in the third, and Brodeur was forced to make two quick saves to keep the game knotted at 3-3.
The two teams had several scoring chances during the first half of the third, but neither team seemed willing to take any chances for fear of giving up the deciding goal.
With Jacob Ball in the penalty box for tripping, the visitors took the lead on a wrist shot from the right point by Medric Mercier, assisted by Stillman and Danil Antropov.
Holding a 4-3 lead, the Generals seemed content to get the puck in behind the Battalion rearguards, and then keeping the puck deep. Oshawa frequently lined up four men across their own blueline.
Kyle Potts made a charge to the net with just over four minutes to play, was hauled down, and as the crowd bellowed for a call, got a shot off that was saved by Brodeur. No penalty was called on the play.
With 1:57 to play, Thilander tied the game 4-4, with the assist to Shankar, causing the home crowd to erupt with joy.
After the game, Thilander said that the "game has always been fun, but it's even more fun to score goals. That's why we play hockey, but especially when it's a huge goal for us."
Oshawa's Robbie Burt had a wide open look with one minute to play, but Moran camped out at the top of his crease and made the save.
The game headed to overtime tied 4-4, shots were 41-29 in favour of the Generals after three.
Commisso had the first chance in 3-on-3 overtime, breaking in alone, but Moran calmly made the save.
Back in the other direction, Dineen made a drive to the net, but ended up inside the net himself, instead of the puck.
One minute later, McKenzie had a glorious chance in tight, but Brodeur turned the shot away with his right leg.
With one minute to play, North Bay native Brett Hargrave was robbed, and then Brodeur turned away Shankar on a rush.
Despite producing many scoring chances to end the contest, overtime solved nothing, and the game headed to a shootout. Shots after overtime were 44-34 Oshawa.
The Battalion face the Windsor Spitfires on the road at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, and the Sarnia Sting at 2:05 p.m. Sunday. The Troops return to host the London Nights at Memorial Gardens Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m.
