Derian Hatcher knows the Memorial Gardens crowd all too well.
After making the North Bay fans cheer many times as a junior defenceman some 25 years ago, the former North Bay Centennial returned to town as the bench boss and owner of the Sarnia Sting on Friday night.
But unfortunately for Hatcher and his team, the Battalion gave the crowd a lot more to cheer about as they sunk the Sting 5-4 for their first win of the season on Centennial Alumni Night.
A three goal explosion in the first seven minutes of the third period proved pivotal for the Troops, who donned the throwback Centennial uniforms in front of a frenzied crowd.
Goaltender Jake Smith was rewarded for his strong play for most of the night, stopping 26 Sarnia shots and registering an assist for second star honours, while Brett McKenzie continued to lead the way offensively with a goal and two assists in a first-star performance.
Veteran Zach Bratina finally broke out offensively, scoring two goals, including the game-winner, and narrowly missing a wide-open net for the hat trick late in the game.
Overall, the team looked more confident than they have so far in the young season. But after boasting a 5-1 lead halfway through the third, they had to survive a late scare before sealing the win.
“We didn’t make it easy on ourselves,” Battalion head coach Stan Butler said after the game. “We scored some goals on some sloppy plays by them and we were in good shape, but instead of our guys playing the right way right until the end, I thought we started to cheat a bit and got lazy. As a result, we almost allowed them to come back into the hockey game.”
It took the Troops 10 minutes to break the ice, scoring the first goal of the game for the first time this season.
After Smith stole the show with several big saves early on, McKenzie took advantage of a stand-still defensive play at the Sting’s blue line, potting his second of the season post-in on a two-on-one.
McKenzie was also partially responsible for Sarnia’s first goal moments later though, after taking the game’s first penalty for tripping in the Sting’s zone.
With the Battalion penalty killers out of position in the neutral zone, Sting forward Nikita Korostelev settled a chaotic entry into the offensive zone and batted in a lose puck past a sprawling Smith.
Despite the Sting being the stronger of the two teams in the early second period, it was the Battalion who grabbed the go-ahead goal. Highly-touted Sarnia defenceman Jacob Chychrun coughed the puck up from behind his own net, which fan favourite Riley Bruce intercepted at the point and fired through traffic for his first ever OHL regular season goal.
But whatever Butler said in the second intermission ignited the Troops’ attack.
With Austin Kosack serving a double-minor for high sticking to start the third period, Battalion penalty killers Mike Amadio and Bratina made the most of a daunting situation and scored a two-on-one shorthanded marker.
Forward Zach Poirier followed that up by scoring perhaps the easiest goal of his career after tapping in a McKenzie rebound, just minutes before Bratina notched his second of the period on a power play breakaway after a sneaky stretch pass from Smith.
But just when it looked like the Troops were running away with the win, the Sting struck three-goals of their own in the remaining eight minutes.
Alex Black, Patrick White and Anthony Salinity played the role of crowd deflators, bringing the Sting to within one goal with a man advantage in the final minutes.
But Smith and co. crowded the front of the Battalion net effectively, keeping all pressure to the perimeter of the zone and sending the Sting home empty-handed.
“We relied on Jake a lot tonight, which is fine, we can do that [right now],” said Butler, “but hockey’s a simple game: the first thing you’ve got to do is compete hard; the second thing is you have to win your one-on-one battles; the third is you’ve got to play as a group of five and play the way the coach wants you to.
“But until we do the first thing consistently for 60 minutes, we’re going to have to struggle, like tonight, and win games by really good goaltending.”
“We had a couple mental lapses late in the third period, but other than that, a win’s a win,” said Smith. “You’ve got to get the first win under your belt and it’s a great feeling.
“That’s the most important thing right now, we can worry about all those other things later,” he added.
North Bay native Brett Hargrave made his debut for the Battalion after being acquired in a trade from the Owen Sound Attack Friday morning. The third-year forward lined up on the Troops’ top line with Amadio and Bratina, but was used sporadically through the rest of the contest.
“I think I did alright; got the first game under my belt with the Battalion and now I can build on that,” said Hargrave. “It was definitely a quick turnaround, I only got the call this morning. But I want to have a good year, hopefully put up some points and do what I can to help the team.”
Veteran forward Mathew Santos was out of the lineup serving the first game of his four-game suspension for his hit from behind in the third period against the Kitchener Rangers on Thursday night.
Next up for the Troops is a visit to Sault Ste. Marie to take on the Greyhounds next Saturday before returning home for an afternoon game Thanksgiving Monday against the Mississauga Steelheads.
