’ Dogs come back
Niagara moves back into second place in Central Division after coming back to beat North Bay
Good start or great finish? Given the choice, Billy Burke would pick the latter every time.
That’s exactly what the Niagara IceDogs head coach and the Ontario Hockey League team’s sixth man, a fully engaged Meridan Centre sellout crowd of 5,300, got Saturday night.
After trailing the North Bay Battalion 2- 0 and playing like anything but a structured pack, the IceDogs closed ranks on the Troops scoring four answered goals on their way to a 4- 2 victory.
With the win, Niagara takes the season series against North Bay four wins to two, nine points to five, and moves into sole possession of second place in the Central Division with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
Burke attributed his team’s start to too much energy and enthusiasm rather than not enough effort and execution.
“I think earlier in the game the guys just wanted it too much,” he said. “They were wound up too tight, everyone wanted to play so well and so hard.
“I think if you want it too much, it goes the other way.”
North Bay opened the scoring on a power- play goal from Adam Thilander 4: 24 into the game.
Matthew Struthers put the Battalion up by two, but Akil Thomas made it a one- goal game with his 19th of the season with 11 seconds remaining in the first period.
“Akil’s goal at the end of the first period was huge for us, it let us to calm down a bit,” Burke said.
Niagara limited North Bay to 11 shots over the final two periods after allowing 11 in the opening frame.
“It was a strong effort for us,” the coach said, praising the play of a defence backstopped by Colton Incze.
“The desperation level was outstanding, blocking shots, battling.”
Burke summed up the mood on
North
the bench in the four- point game against a division rival as “100 per cent bought in.”
“It’s not over until it’s over, but you had a strong feeling that if they were going to get one, it was going to be one of those ricochet ones.
“Guys were doing everything they could to put themselves in front of the puck.”
Sam Miletic’s 31st goal of the campaign, and 15th with the IceDogs, knotted the game at two all early in the second period.
Defenceman Elijah Roberts put the hosts ahead 3- 2 with his eighth of the season at the midway point of the middle frame.
Ben Jones rounded out the scoring with an empty- netter. It was his 20th of the season.
In their past 10 games the IceDogs had compiled a 1- 7- 2- 0 record earning four of a possible 20 points coming into Saturday night’s game.
The Battalion were 5- 2- 2- 1 over the same stretch getting 13 of 20 points.
Niagara was hoping to rebound from a 4- 0 road loss to the Mississauga Steelheads the night before. In its last game, North Bay edged the Sudbury Wolves 3- 2 in overtime Wednesday night at home.
Niagara would finish ahead of North Bay if the two wound up tied at the end of the regular season based on a better record in head- to- head play.
The IceDogs’ next three games are at home beginning 7 p. m. Thursday against the Hamilton Bulldogs, the top team in the Eastern Conference.
The Central Division- leading Barrie Colts visit St. Catharines 7 p. m. Friday and the Peterborough Petes are at Meridian Centre 2 p. m. Sunday, March 4.
’ Dog Biscuits: Two bus loads of fans made the trip from St. Louis to cheer on Battalion forward Jake Henderson, a St. Louis native … All but two of the 10 games Niagara has remaining in the regular season will be played at home … Defenceman and Calgary Flames draft pick Bruce Riley is the lone NHL prospect on the Battalion roster. Forwards Kirill Maksimov, Edmonton Oilers, and Ben Jones, Vegas Golden Knights, are the NHL draft picks in the IceDogs lineup … Beamsville native and North Bay forward Adam McMaster has nine goals and 17 assists in 58 games in his second season with the Battalion … Singing O Canada was the choir from ecole elementaire catholique du Sacre Coeur in Welland.