Battalion wins 4-3 in OT

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – Adam McMaster scored at 3:44 of overtime to give the North Bay battalion a 4-3 win on Friday night against the Niagara IceDogs in the first game of a round-robin series of the hockey of Ontario.

Daniel Walker scored a goal and a pbad and Patrick Brown and Simon Rose also scored for North Bay, who won for the first time in three games the improvement in their record of lost wins to 9-8-1 for 19 points , tied for fourth place in the center division with the Barrie Colts, who lost 4-3 against host Guelph Storm. Goalkeeper Christian Propp faced 39 shots.

Philip Tomasino and Bradey Johnson each contributed one goal and one badist to Niagara, the other goal being Matthew Philip. Goaltender Stephen Dhillon also faced 39 shots before 5,148 at the Meridian Center.

Niagara is 10-5-3 for 23 points, the first in the division, one point ahead of the Mississauga Steelheads and the Sudbury Wolves.

The IceDogs had the best chances at the start of extra time, but Johnson was unable to finish the race in three-on-one, and soon after Propp defeated Ivan Lodnia in check, McMaster jumped into the top of the the offensive zone and was waiting for Johnathon Schaefer. engage and beat Dhillon down on the glove side. Brad Chenier got the only help from the seventh goal of the season for McMaster.

The battalion came out of a quick first period with a 1-0 lead after Brown logged in at 2:30. Justin Brazeau took two defenders and slipped the puck to Brown, who rushed alone on Dhillon to score from the side of the stick. The goal, also badisted by Harrison Caines, was Brown's first since a 6-3 win in Niagara on Dec. 15.

The biggest stoppage of Propp's match came in the 15th minute, when it stretched to prevent Lodnia's breakaway attempt. Propp missed consecutive opportunities for Ben Jones in the sixth minute and beat Elijah Roberts, Jake Uberti and Andrew Bruder.

Tomasino tied for 1:13 of the second period when he found a loose puck between circles and beat Propp on the gloves side.

Rose handed the battalion forward at 5:18 pm, firing the puck into the open end of the far left circle while a sprawling Dhillon was coming too late. Brazeau and Walker contributed to defender Rose's first goal in the second year.

Philip responded on the powerplay at 9:31, flipping a backhander behind Propp on the right side of the crease, before Walker restored North Bay's lead at 12:48, pbading Luke Moncada's left-wing pbad. and shooting the ball at the bottom Wrister under the glove of Dhillon. Theo Calvas shot the other help on Walker's fourth goal.

Johnson tied at 3-3 at 14:41, scoring a rebound after a scrum for his fifth goal.

Brazeau had a great opportunity to put the troops forward in the 18th minute, but hit the crossbar during a breakaway.

Both teams had scoring chances in the third period. Propp was busy early when North Bay eliminated a two-man disadvantage that lasted 1:25. Kyen Sopa could not turn into an open net on a Tomasino net in the 10th minute and Propp blocked a shot from Roberts' left wing. Tomasino also missed the game alone in the 15th minute. Dhillon denied Brandon Coe from the slot, found a pink drive from the blue line across traffic and smothered chances for Moncada and Walker.

The battalion welcomes Niagara at 19 hours. Saturday to complete the round-trip series as troops honor veterans on Remembrance Night, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.