The North Bay Battalion kept pace with the race for the final playoff spots in the OHL Eastern Conference with a 4-0 win over Sudbury last night (Thursday).

Assistant Coach John Dean says the team sent a clear message, that they’re not down and out yet.

“They’re an excited group and I think tonight (Thursday) was a real complete game and I think there’s 23 guys in there that know what we’re capable of now.”

Dean says on top of a full team effort, the 7th man made a major difference last night.

“We love playing Sudbury and that’s not a knock on Sudbury, now we’re 5-1-1 against them, we love playing our northern rival. You saw that tonight (Thursday) our fans weren’t going to be drowned out by them and neither were we.”

The 9th place Troops are one point back of the Wolves for the final playoff spot and two points back of 7th place Niagara, who lost to Mississauga.

Ottawa, who was idle last night, is four points ahead.

Brett Hargrave, Brett McKenzie, Zach Poirier and Adam McMaster scored for North Bay while Julian Sime made 23 saves to earn the shutout.

The Battalion visit Sudbury tonight.

Broadcast time on Country 600 CKAT is 6:55 pm.

 

In the NOJHL, the Powassan Voodoos host Kirkland Lake in game one of their playoff series tonight.

Game time at the Powassan Sportsplex is 7 pm.

The two teams played against each other nine times in the regular season with the Voodoos winning six times.

The Goldminers won twice while the other matchup finished in a tie.

Game two is Sunday night at 7 pm in Powassan before the series moves to Kirkland Lake for games three and four next week.

 

Filed under: North Bay Battalion, playoff race, Powassan Voodoos