NORTH BAY – The Guelph Storm ended a 10-game losing streak at the expense of the North Bay Battalion on Thursday night, getting a late goal from Keegan Stevenson to win by a score of 4-3.
The Storm got two points games from each player in their top line, consisting of Pavel Gogolev (0+2), Montreal prospect Cam Hillis (1+1) and Eric Uba (0+2).
The Battalion’s top line produced as well, getting two goals from captain Luke Moncada and a two-point game from Brandon Coe (0+2), who bounced back from a third period benching in North Bay’s last game on Sunday.
The Battalion was close to winning its first game on home ice since New Year’s Eve, holding a 3-2 lead halfway through the third period before giving up a pair of goals to Guelph, first from the towering Fedor Gordeev on the powerplay and then Stevenson’s game-winner at 15:58.
“We just weren’t able to get that big kill,” said Oulahen, referring to the Gordeev powerplay goal in the third that tied the game.
“Our guys were gassed with some lineups issues with the short bench on the forward end.”
With Mason Primeau and Alex Christopoulos out of the lineup up front and Braden Henderson scratched on the blue line, some players were put into roles that increased their ice-time and responsibilities beyond their usual scope, which led to the fatigue Oulahen mentioned.
“There’s no doubt those three guys are key components. When you miss your second-line centre (Primeau), there’s a lot of minutes there that are key minutes. Faceoffs, penalty kills, there’s a whole lot of stuff Mason takes up.”
In Primeau’s absence, rookie Liam Arnsby took up a top-six role and played a strong physical game, dishing out a number of big body checks as he has done all season. One particular highlight was a hit on Guelph defenceman Martin Has in the waning minutes of the game. Has played one game with the Battalion earlier this month in order to satisfy a league requirement that an import play at least one game prior to being traded, which he was to Guelph the next day.
The Memorial Gardens crowd of 1,782 graciously cheered as Has laboured his way back to the visitors' bench following the collision.
“What a competitor,” Oulahen said of Arnsby. “I think he hit everything that he saw and played extremely hard. He knows no other way, and we love that about him. We want to play fast, and we want to play heavy, too.”
The Battalion, plagued recently by slow starts and early deficits, generally weathered the Storm in the first period outside of a missed defensive assignment that led to a breakaway goal. North Bay had stretches of momentum basically equal to the Storm, with neither team ever really gaining a ton of it through the game.
“The game was pretty evenly contested, back and forth. I liked our start. Outside of the powerplay opportunities, there weren’t real momentum swings. I thought we were able to keep the push going. As in other games where we kind of got on our heels for a certain amount of time, I don’t think that happened tonight. We were able to play a hockey game and go after them.”
The Storm swept the two-game season series with the Battalion after a 9-3 win in Guelph on Oct. 25. North Bay now heads on the road to face the Steelheads in Mississauga tomorrow night before returning home for a 2 p.m. game on Superbowl Sunday against the Kingston Frontenacs.
