A long journey that started all the way back in September and lasted 68 regular-season games has finally started its most exciting chapter, the OHL playoffs. Thursday evening the North Bay Battalion visited the Peterborough Memorial Centre to take on the Petes, with the Troops claiming the first game in their best-of-seven series 1-0.
Lirim Amidovski scored the opening and game-winning goal for the Battalion at the 15:43 mark of the second period thanks to a slick zone entry and a fortuitous bounce.
However, the real stars of the show were the men between the pipes. Jack Lisson had an outstanding game, stopping all 26 shots that he faced in his first OHL playoff start. An important factor in the victory is that despite North Bay spending ten minutes on the penalty kill, including six consecutive minutes at the beginning of the second period, Lisson stood tall in multiple key moments to hold the lead.
“It’s awesome,” said Lisson on “The OHL Tonight” after Thursday’s win.
“A big team win, especially coming into their [Peterborough’s] barn for the first game and getting a victory, is huge. The boys played great in front of me, so I can’t complain.
“We really pride ourselves in playing a two-way game in general, and I think everyone really bought into playing a good defensive game.
“We didn’t waver from our plan.”
The Petes Easton Rye has nothing to be ashamed of as he turned aside 29 of the 30 shots he faced, giving his team every opportunity to get on the board.
This playoff series is just their fourth time facing each other in each franchise’s history, The first being in 2009 when the Troops were still in Brampton, then again in 2016 and most recently the dramatic seven-game series in 2023 that sent the Petes on to a league championship title. North Bay’s current captain Ethan Procyszyn is the only remaining player who was active on the Battalions’ 2023 playoff roster, while the Petes Braydon McCallum is the only player on Peterborough’s from that time.
“It was a couple of years ago now,” said Procyszyn during the first-period intermission on The OHL Tonight. “It was a crazy battle for sure; it was like going to war. It’s going to be the same this year, I think, Petes are a really good team, so it’s going to be a tough one.
“We wish we could have that [series against the Petes] back; it was a tough game. We’re here now, and we’ve got to play.”
The intensity and skill that saw such evenly matched squads end with just a four-point separation in the regular season certainly carried through to the opening puck drop. Physical play took to the main stage straight away with bodies flying along the boards and jostling for any open ice.
Peterborough was the beneficiary of said battling on open ice receiving the first powerplay of the series as Petes Captain Carson Cameron took some timber to the teeth courtesy of Kaden Pitre. The Petes looked dangerous on the power play, unleashing a handful of high-quality looks, including a Braydon McCallum breakaway chance. Unfortunately for them, all were turned aside.
The last time these teams played in the regular season four fights broke out, the first of which took place less than two minutes into the contest, Thursday night it took just over seven. Grayden Strohack and Bronson Ride took exception to each other and hucked knuckles, looking to set the tone for their teams.
And the tone was a continuation of the tune of bodies hitting boards and pucks hitting pads as rushing chances and strong movement in the offensive zone led to lots of opportunities, but no scoring. This includes the second Petes power play at the end of the period.
“We definitely have to be more disciplined in these next two periods,” said Procyszyn. “We killed the penalties, huge momentum so it’s going to go well here.”
In what almost seemed like a cruel twist of cosmic fate, just minutes after the Troops Captain’s comments, Nick Wellenreiter took a double-minor high sticking penalty just 15 seconds into the second period. Instantly after fending off the double minor the Battalion took an Olympic-level too many men penalty with six skaters deep in North Bay’s end. In just over 26 minutes of play up to that point, the Battalion had spent 10 of them shorthanded, yet the game remained scoreless.
North Bay finally got their first and only look on the man-advantage thanks to Aiden Young briefly forgetting what sport he was playing as he tackled Jack Lisson. North Bay made the most of their time as they got the Petes PK unit moving, with Pitre repeatedly ripping rubber towards the net of Easton Rye, but none beating him.
It took most of the middle frame, but the tie was eventually broken courtesy of a very unorthodox goal. At the 15:43 mark Lirim Amidovski entered the Petes zone with speed, completing a full loop back up to the blue line, then sent a wrist shot through traffic, off the crossbar, into the back of Easton Rye and finally into the net. Assists went to Cam Warren and Nolan Laird.
“We’ve got to keep finishing our checks,” said Petes’ forward Adam Levac after the second period on how his team could try to beat Jack Lisson.
“Start getting to the front of the net. If we keep putting pucks on net, we should be able to bang in a rebound.”
The Troops, to their credit, put forth a defensive masterclass in the final frame, limiting the Petes to just four shots on goal and effectively clearing out any pucks that managed to squeak through towards Lisson’s net. Levac’s plan of banging in a rebound became an impossibility.
And as the clock ticked down, the Battalion stuck to their defensive guns and held on to shut out game one with a 1-0 scoreline.
Final shots on goal 30-26 North Bay.
The Troops quickly reload and hit the ice for game two at the Peterborough Memorial Centre for a 7:05 p.m. puck-drop on Friday, March 27.
