IceDogs, Battalion cease fire
One series down, three to go.
Niagara IceDogs can check one box on their run to what they hope is an Ontario Hockey League championship after easily disposing of the North Bay Battalion 4-0 Friday night on home ice.
The IceDogs took the best-of-seven OHL Eastern Conference quarter-final playoff 4-1 and now advance to the semifinals, likely versus the Oshawa Generals. The Gens lead the Peterborough Petes 3-1 in their series with Game 5 Saturday.
“It’s great. They played hard and no one wanted to go back (to North Bay),” IceDogs coach Billy Burke said. “It was a great effort and the guys had 100 per cent buy-in.
“We’re glad to be done with them and moving on to the next one.”
Burke said while the IceDogs have at the very least an OHL title in mind, they were also mindful not to look past the first round.
“We said it right before Game 1 we can’t go to Halifax (for the Memorial Cup) if we don’t beat North Bay,” he said. “The guys got it done. We had a little bit of a wake up call in Game 2 (5-2 loss) but I think since then we rolled.
“If it wasn’t for (goalie Christian) Propp, these scores would have been ugly.”
There has been no love lost between the teams which was very evident early when Niagara’s Andrew Bruder and North Bay’s Luke Burghardt squared off in a spirited bout less than two minutes into the game.
Burke tipped his cap to Bruder to dropping the mitts and according himself well in the tussle.
“It was awesome. It was great to see,” Burke said. “It’s a guy doing it for his teammates and the players really responded well.”
Seconds later, Justin Brazeau barrelled into Niagara goaltender Stephen Dhillon and the IceDogs quickly responded with a goal by Jason Robertson.
“They’re game plan was, they thought they could bully us,” Burke said. “They are a high-compete team and they tip-toe on that line (of discipline).
“We’re a lot of things, but we’re not soft.”
The IceDogs led 1-0 after one period and continued to hold a sizeable edge in play in the second. They scored the period’s only goal when Akil Thomas netted his second of the post-season. The IceDogs held a whopping 43-16 edge in shots on goal after 40 minutes.
Jacob Paquette and Jack Studnicka then added insurance goals in the third. Overall, the IceDogs outshot the Battalion 57-27.
Stephen Dhillon made 27 saves for his third shutout of the series.
“We faced some adversity when they came in here and won Game 2 but we fought back the right way,” Robertson said. “We won the next three games and we’ll roll into the second round.”
Ice cubes: Jonah DiSimone, Kirill Maksimov, Matthew Phillip and Christian Sbaraglia did not dress for the IceDogs . . . Pacey Schlueting was scratched for the Battalion . . . Sportsnet televised the game nationally which added at least 30 minutes to the length of the game . . . Former IceDogs and St. Catharines Falcons winger Johnson Andrews was in attendance.
IceDogs 4 Battalion 0
BPSN Star of the Game: Niagara winger Jason Robertson with a goal and two assists.
Niagara IceDogs: Robertson (2); Jack Studnicka (4); Akil Thomas (2); Jacob Paquette (1).
North Bay Battalion: No scoring.
Game stats: Shots on goal: By Niagara on Christian Propp (57), by North Bay on Stephen Dhillon (27); Power plays: Niagara 3-for-5, North Bay 0-for-2; Penalty minutes: Niagara 13, North Bay 22.
Attendance: 5,300 (sell out)
Up next: The IceDogs advance to the semifinals. Games 1 and 2 are tentatively slated for Friday, April 5 and Sunday, April 7 in St. Catharines.
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