The logo of the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League
The Owen Sound Attack are struggling at the wrong time of the season.
Anthony Romani scored twice and Dom DiVincentiis starred in net with 36 saves, as the North Bay Battalion knocked off the Attack 4-1 in Ontario Hockey League action Wednesday night at the North Bay Memorial Centre.
The Attack (29-25-4-1) dropped their third straight game, and eighth in the past 11.
North Bay (41-17-2-1) won their fourth in a row, as they close in on the Central Division crown for a second straight season.
Liam Arnsby and Kyle McDonald also scored for the Battalion, who improved to 29-0-0-1 on the season when scoring the first goal of the game.
Rookie forward Antonio Tersigni had the lone goal for the Attack, his first career OHL marker.
Arnsby opened the scoring late in the first period. The Florida Panthers prospect had a shot denied by Attack netminder Nick Chenard, and the puck ended up behind the goal. Nikita Tarasevich fed a pass back out front and Arnsby was wide open, blasting a shot past Chenard with 21 seconds left in the first to give the Battalion a 1-0 lead.
It was 2-0 just over a minute into the second period. Romani scored his first of the game off the rush, taking a pass from Dalyn Wakely as he drifted towards the face-off dot on the left side of the offensive zone. Romani fired a one-timer into a near open net as Chenard slid to his right after the puck had already tickled the twine.
The Battalion added to their lead six minutes later. Romani notched his second of the period and 19th on the season, converting a shot from the slot area after some pretty puck movement on the power play by North Bay. 3-0 for the home team, 7:28 into the second.
The Attack pressured and peppered the North Bay net with shots from there. But DiVincentiis was stellar. Owen Sound outshot North Bay 18-7 in the second and 12-7 in the third. DiVincentiis stopped all but one of them.
That one came 5:53 into the third period. A scramble just outside the crease area was poked through the legs of the Battalion netminder, and the Attack cut the lead to 3-1. The goal was initially credited to Thomas Chafe, but Tersigni was the rightful scorer – redemption for the rookie after he had what would have been his first career OHL goal last Saturday against Kitchener called back due to goalie interference.
This one stood – many hugs and high fives were exchanged on the Attack bench in appreciation of their teammate. Tersigni gets his first.
The Attack kept pressing, firing from all angles at DiVincentiis until they ran into some penalty trouble.
Ethan Burroughs was sent off for tripping at 10:30 on a questionable call in the neutral zone as he tried to battle Matvey Petrov for the puck. Just over a minute later, Deni Goure was given the gate for high-sticking. The end result: a 5-on-3 power play for North Bay for 59 seconds.
They took advantage. Petrov found McDonald open a few steps from the crease, and McDonald quickly snapped it under the bar for his 28th of the season to restore the Battalion’s three-goal advantage. Petrov picked up his third assist of the game on the play – stretching his league-leading tally to 65 helpers on the season.
That was it.
DiVincentiis made 36 saves in the win, while Chenard stopped 22 taking the loss. The Attack outshot North Bay 37-26 while going 0 for 4 on the power play; the Battalion finished 2 for 4.
Next up for Owen Sound is a trip to the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Friday to face the red-hot Rangers (29-26-4-0). Game time is 7:30 p.m., and you can catch all the action live on 560 CFOS.
ATTACK SLIP TO SEVENTH
The loss to North Bay coupled with a 4-1 win by the Flint Firebirds over the Erie Otters left the Attack in seventh in the western conference when the final whistle sounded to end OHL action on Wednesday night.
Five teams are battling fourth through eighth in the Western Conference and there isn’t much separating them.
Here’s how things look. Saginaw (32-24-2-2) currently sit fourth-place, three points ahead of the Flint Firebirds (30-26-4-1) and the Guelph Storm (30-26-4-1). Flint has now won five in a row.
The Attack are in seventh, two points back of Flint in Guelph. They also have two games in hand on both those teams, and one on Saginaw.
In eighth, the Kitchener Rangers are just one point behind the Attack. Both teams have played 59 games.
TOUGH ROAD DOWN STRETCH
The Attack have nine games left in the regular season and they’re battling to try to avoid finishing in one of the bottom three spots playoff spots in the OHL’s Western Conference – positions that would likely result in a matchup with London, Windsor or the surging Sarnia Sting – who are on a 10-game point streak.
Nothing is easy this time of year, but the Attack schedule is especially tough to close out the regular season. They play five home games and four on the road, all against teams currently in playoff position. Owen Sound has two games left against each of Kitchener, Flint and Sarnia. They also face Oshawa, Saginaw and Barrie over the final two-and-a-half weeks of the regular season.
Owen Sound has an 8-7-1 record combined against the teams they will play their final nine games against.
BATTALION BREAK A HOME FUNK AGAINST ATTACK
The 4-1 win for North Bay Wednesday night was the first time the modern Battalion franchise has defeated the Attack on home ice since the move from Brampton ahead of the 2013-14 season. The Attack had a 5-0-1-1 record in seven prior meetings with the Battalion at the North Bay Memorial Gardens dating back to 2013-14. That point-streak for the Owen Sound franchise in North Bay ended last night.